A few years ago, the renowned singer Barbra Streisand made an unconventional phone call to Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, over a minor detail of great importance for her. Any guesses? Streisand herself has revealed the reason behind this curious anecdote more than once.
Hey Siri, My Name is Barbra Streisand…
Barbra Streisand has been active for over 60 years as a charismatic actress and an extraordinary singer, reaching to audiences around the world and earning the distinction of being one of the few EGOT artists. And yet, despite her fame and achievements, many still stumble over pronouncing her name correctly.
This is something she realized a few years ago after returning from a tour. And it wasn't just ordinary people. Even other celebrities like the hilarious Melissa McCarthy, with whom Barbra recorded a duet, mispronounced her name.
The confusion lies in the surname. The "s" in "sand" should be pronounced as such, a "soft s", the simplest thing that first comes to mind. But many pronounce it as if it were a "z". Upon noticing this, Barbra decided to test Siri, Apple's virtual assistant, to see how it pronounced her name. When she discovered that it also made the same mistake, she knew it had to be corrected.
Having previously reached out to Steve Jobs for a different issue, Streisand opted to, once again, go straight to the "top of the heap" and called none other than Tim Cook, the current chief of Apple, to discuss the situation. Cook, showing kindness and understanding according to the actress, assured her that in the next update, Siri would correctly pronounce her name.
Barbra Streisand shared this story soon after it occurred during an interview with Alec Baldwin on "The Tonight Show" hosted by Jimmy Fallon. This interesting event showcases both Streisand's influence and her sense of humor and attention to detail. A fun story that, included in her newly released autobiography "My Name is Barbra", Streisand often recounts, surprised to see how her fame allowed her to get a tech giant like Apple to update its software for the correct pronunciation of her last name.
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