Biography
Gabe Newell (born November 3, 1962) is the co-founder and managing director of game development company Valve Corporation. His interest in music began when he was young, saying, "I went to Croatia when I was about four years old, and it was there that I laid my eyes upon the Sea Organ, a natural instrument played by the sea on the shores of Zadar. I was fascinated and it stuck with me, long after co-founding Valve games, and long after my subsequent addiction to World of Warcraft. It was around the mid 2000's when I thought, "Hey, Gabe, you are rich and spectacular and single, why not put some of that WoW effort into a cute little diddy? And so Chasing the Sun was born."
Gabe worked closely with legendary producer and songwriter Phil Spector, who was at the time a suspect in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson. In 2005, Wired Magazine sat down to interview the spunky duo (in between Spector's court proceedings) to find out what exactly a jolly game company co-founder and a 69 year-old record producer on the edge of murder charges hoped to accomplish.
"Gabe's a great big guy," started Spector, flipping a toothpick around in his left hand. "I don't mean just in size, or greatness of his MMO addictions, but his voice and personality. He walks into a room and it's like nobody takes him seriously. They think, "Here comes big ole stupid Gabey." They have no idea what a musical giant he is. I want him to walk into a room and have people say, "Here comes one of the greatest voices of our generation." I can do that for him. I did it with the Crystals, and Gabe reminds me of those girls."
Gabe replied, smiling, "I just want to sing between raids. That's it."
And so he does.
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