These are Bill Gates’ favourite tunes: Desert Island Discs reveals Bowie, Queen, Jimi Hendrix and Ed Sheeran on playlist
Bill Gates, the world's richest man and founder of Microsoft, has found some time to talk about his favourite tunes and his extraordinary life.
Appearing on the BBC's Desert Island Discs, he said David Bowie and Queen's Under Pressure reminded him of his disco days, while Jimi Hendrix's Are you Experienced was played by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen to tease a young Gates "because I hadn't gotten drunk or other various things".
He also revealed his disruptive childhood, losing his driving licence for speeding, working weekends and holidays while starting Microsoft and about being aggressive but not ruthless in business.
Listen to his playlist below, and find out why he chose them, in his own words.
Under Pressure "In my 20s and 30s, I worked a lot. But a few Fridays and Saturdays we'd go out and dance so this kind of reminds me of those disco days."
Blue Skies "My wife Melinda and I love Willie Nelson. So as a surprise gift for her, I had him show up the night before we got married. We were on a beach in Hawaii and he kind of walked down the beach with his guitar and I said, 'Well here he is, let's have this guy sing some songs for us.'"
Sing "My kids, who are 19, 16, and 13, refresh my musical taste by tuning the radio or calling up songs on their phones. And so this is one that my 13-year-old, Phoebe, happens to like."
Are you experienced "Because I was younger [Paul Allen] would sometimes taunt me with the title of this song – Are You Experienced – because I hadn't gotten drunk or other various things, so this is one of our favourites."
One "Paul told me that I should meet Bono, and I didn't prioritise it. We finally did get to meet and I was amazed how he had thought about [global health] read about it, and so started a partnership. He has been absolutely amazing."
Two of us "Steve [Jobs] was really into music and he loved the Beatles and so did I. And he actually mentioned the song, Two of Us, saying that was kind of like this journey we'd been on where we'd been competing and working together."
How can love survive "Melinda and I both love the Sound of Music and as I met [investor and philanthropist] Warren Buffett, he and his first wife Susie sang a song from The Sound of Music. In fact this is one we'd never heard because it was in the Broadway musical and not in the movie. It's kind of a cute song so Melinda and I think of this as one of our favourites."
My Shot "It's about a young person saying, 'Hey I'm going to take a risk – I'm going to get out there and try and do something new and different."
Listen to the full show here.