Celebrities and industry leaders have come out of the woodworks over the last couple of weeks to pay tribute to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. His passing has spurred dozens of anecdotes from those that have come into contact with Jobs throughout the years.
Famous singer/songwriter John Mayer is known for loving Apple products. He has taken the stage at Macworld multiple times to help introduce products like Garageband. As it turns out, Mayer developed a personal friendship with Jobs years ago.
On his personal blog, Mayer shares memories of Apple’s former CEO:
“I first met Steve in 2003, over the phone, when I cold-called him to tell him I was a devout fan of all things Apple and would love to be involved in whatever way I could with the company. I remember the call extremely well; me on my hotel room bed, fidgeting and doodling and circuitously explaining that all I could really explain was that I wanted to have a relationship. I got nervous at one point and started second guessing myself and my intentions for calling, to which Steve replied “don’t worry, I have a very good bullshit detector.” I found it very comfortable to be myself around him from that moment on.
The bullshit detector must have stayed silent because In the following months and years I was invited to help introduce products and software at several Macworld keynote addresses in San Francisco. I got to know him a bit in our time together on and off the stage. I remember Steve as being almost iridescent; one second he would be talking to you about “architecture” as it related to digital data flow, and then in a microsecond turn his head a different way and mention Bob Dylan or a killer sushi place and just be the biggest rock star on the planet.”
Mayer goes on to tell of the time that he signed an exclusive agreement with Blackberry in 2008 to sponsor one of his summer tours. He called Jobs to explain the situation, and that he wouldn’t be able to use Apple products in public until the contract with Blackberry expired. Mayer said that “he [Jobs] would send me an iPhone to at least play with on the bus.”
Mayer also recalls the time that he was delivered the original iPhone in 2007:
“Someone knocked on my dressing room door and handed me an Apple Store bag. Inside was an iPhone, and taped to it was a card; it belonged to Steve Jobs, CEO, 1 Inifinite Loop, Cupertino, California. Handwritten on the backside of the card was one word: “Enjoy!”
