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Quick Facts
- NAME: Simon Cowell
- OCCUPATION: Music Producer, Reality Television Star
- BIRTH DATE: October 07, 1959 (Age: 53)
- EDUCATION: Dover College
- PLACE OF BIRTH: London, United Kingdom
- Full Name: Simon Cowell
- Full Name: Simon Phillip Cowell
- ZODIAC SIGN: Libra
Best Known For
Simon Cowell is a record producer and television personality known for his scathing critical remarks as a judge on the television show, "American Idol."
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Play NowSimon Cowell. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 11:02, May 25, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/simon-cowell-10073482.
Simon Cowell. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/simon-cowell-10073482 [Accessed 25 May 2013].
"Simon Cowell." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 25 2013, 11:02 http://www.biography.com/people/simon-cowell-10073482.
"Simon Cowell," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/simon-cowell-10073482 [accessed May 25, 2013].
"Simon Cowell," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/simon-cowell-10073482 (accessed May 25, 2013).
Simon Cowell [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 25] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/simon-cowell-10073482.
Simon Cowell, http://www.biography.com/people/simon-cowell-10073482 (last visited May 25, 2013).
Simon Cowell. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/simon-cowell-10073482. Accessed May 25, 2013.
Synopsis
Born Simon Phillip Cowell on October 7, 1959 in London, England, Simon Cowell started in the mailroom at EMI Music Publishing. He worked as a record producer, talent scout and consultant within the music industry before producing the hit British TV show Pop Idol and its U.S. counterpart, American Idol. Cowell's scathing comments were famous during his ten seasons as a judge on American Idol. He started judging The X Factor in 2011.
Quotes
"In TV, film and music there's a lot of snobbery, and I don't like it. If I don't like French food, that doesn't make me a lesser person."
Early Career
Simon Phillip Cowell was born on October 7, 1959 in London, England. His father, Eric Philip Cowell, was an estate agent developer and music industry executive. His mother, Julie Brett, was a former ballet dancer and socialite.
Cowell attended school at Dover College, but dropped out at 16. He floated in and out of jobs, sabotaging several interviews for jobs set up by his father. He finally landed a job at his father's company as a mailroom clerk at EMI Music Publishing. He managed to earn a position as an assistant to an A&R executive at EMI in 1979, where he was promoted and given the job of talent scout. Cowell left EMI during the early 1980s to form E&S Music with his boss at EMI, Ellis Rich.
The company created several hits, but Cowell left by mutual agreement a few years later. In 1985, he and a partner formed the independent label Fanfare Records, which enjoyed short-lived success. The company folded in 1989. In financial straits, Cowell was forced to move back in with his family.
Undeterred, Cowell signed on as a consultant with BMG Records later that same year. He moved back into his own place, and gradually climbed the corporate ladder at BMG. He managed to sign a string of successful acts for the company, selling more than 150 million records and 70 top-charting singles in the UK and United States.
Pop Idol and American Idol
In 2001, Cowell teamed up with Simon Fuller to produce a show in which the public chooses Britain's next big music performance star. The show, Pop Idol, debuted in the UK and promised a BMG record deal to the winner. With Cowell as a judge notorious for reducing contestants to tears, the show was an instant success, drawing more than 10,000 would-be stars to audition for the show.
The American version, American Idol, debuted in 2002, with Cowell once again judging alongside singer Paula Abdul and producer Randy Jackson. The show drew in a record number of viewers for Fox, in addition to producing pop stars Kelly Clarkson (2002), Ruben Studdard (2003) and Clay Aiken (2003), Fantasia Barrino (2004), Jennifer Hudson (2004), Carrie Underwood (2005), Taylor Hicks (2006), Jordin Sparks (2007), and most recently David Cook (2008) and David Archuleta (2008).
Cowell has become known for combining his music and television interests. He set up another company, SYCOtv, in 2002. The company created the television shows American Inventor, America's Got Talent, and X-Factor. The group also produces records for many of the performers on Cowell's shows including albums for Leona Lewis and Il Divo.
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View groupAfter the Britpop music scene of the early 90's, a new genre of celebrities stepped into the London spotlight from athletic superstars such as David Beckham to pop culture phenomenons like Simon Cowell and Susan Boyle. Alternative rock acts like Elastica and Oasis were replaced with soulful songstresses like Amy Whinehouse and Adele, and actors like Kate Winslet, Keira Knightley and Robert Pattinson became international superstars. The Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton also became a royal, social and fashion icon, as well as a defining figure of the decade. Biography celebrates these cultural icons of the new post-Britpop era.
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