Simon Philip Cowell was born on October 7, 1959 in Brighton, England but was raised in Elstree, Hertfordshire. His parents were part of the social elite, his father being a property developer and music industry property executive and his mother being a socialite. At the age of 17, Simon left his high school and tried to fill his time with several odd jobs. However, he had a difficult time getting along with his colleagues and superiors. Eventually, his father decided to give him a job at the mailroom of EMI Music Publishing, at which Simon's father was an executive. Working for the mailroom proved disheartening for Simon, and when he decided to go back to taking jobs unrelated to the entertainment industry, his father used his connections to get Simon a higher position at a different recording company. Simon worked as an A&R assistant for a while and eventually became a record producer. In the early 80's, Simon left the company in order to set up his own independent record label, but after one year, was compelled to return to EMI when his label collapsed. He crossed paths with openly gay producer Pete Waterman in 1984, and a year later left EMI again to form Fanfare Records with Lain Burton, another EMI clerk. Pete helped Simon to rebuild his career and the record company achieved some success with its' first artist Sinitta Malone. Unfortunately, in 1989, Fanfare Records had to file for bankruptcy, and at age 30, Simon was broke and again living with his parents. He took a job at BMG records as an A&R consultant and followed that with the same job at S Records, where he was able to sign famous pop bands like Curiosity Killed the Cat, Sonia, 5ive, Westlife and Robson and Jerome. He is also responsible for music themes and novelty songs for shows like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Zig and Zag and the World Wrestling Federation. In 2002, he built up Syco Records, where he was able to sign rising stars like Il Dive and X-Factor and America's Got Talent Contestants.

In 2001, Simon was asked to judge for the popular British reality competition series Pop Idol, and in 2002, became a judge again for the show's American counterpart, American Idol. On the show, Simon is known most for his harsh criticism and brutally honest and candid remarks, may it be about a contestant's talent or the way he/she looks. Although many people (contestants and non-contestants alike) have expressed their offense regarding Simon's constant barrage of negative comments, the show's immense popularity can also be attributed to Simon's behavior on the show. Some contestants even pick him as their favorite judge because they believe his honesty helps them to improve their performance.

Sponsored Links