Simon Philip Cowell (born October 7, 1959) is an English artist and repertoire ("A&R") executive for BMG in the UK, but is best known as a judge on the television programmes Pop Idol, American Idol and The X Factor, where he is notorious for his unsparingly blunt and often controversial criticism of the contestants. He is known for combining activities in the television and music industries, having produced singles and records for various television characters such as the Power Rangers. Cowell would later find pop acts who had acted on television shows. Live on The X Factor on 18 November 2006, Simon stated that he was 50% Scottish as he was being targeted by fellow judges as anti-Scottish. The week before he said he was 25% Scottish.
Simon Philip Cowell | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 7, 1959 |
| Occupation(s) | A&R executive and TV producer |
Biography
Early life
Born in Brighton, Simon Cowell was brought up in Elstree, Hertfordshire[2]. His parents are Eric (real estate agent and music industry executive) and Julie Cowell (socialite, maiden name Dalgleish, from whom Simon's Scottish roots come). He has three half-brothers (John, Michael and Tony) and a half-sister (June), as well as sister Lindsay Elizabeth and younger brother Nicholas who is now a millionaire property magnate. He also has three nieces and two nephews from Lindsay named Tanyette, Melissa and Joshua and from Nicholas named Harrison and Georgia. Simon and Nicholas were raised by nannies throughout their early childhood before both were sent to boarding school. Simon had to transfer several times as a result of misbehaviour and bad conduct. He had been to a total of 16 schools before leaving at the age of sixteen and suffered from depression and obesity[citation needed].
Cowell started out in 1979 as a mail room clerk for EMI Music Publishing, where his father was an executive. He worked his way up to record producer, but left during the early 1980s to form E&S Music, an independent music company. Within a year, the company imploded and Cowell was forced to humbly return to EMI. Along with fellow EMI clerk Iain Burton, Cowell again left EMI a short time later. They formed an independent record label called Fanfare Records.
Fanfare Records and Syco Records
An interview with Extra later revealed that Cowell owed a bank about USD$1 million. However, in 1984, he met Pete Waterman, a former gay scene DJ-turned-producer and founder of the then-aspiring Stock Aitken Waterman trio, who helped him regain success during the second half of the 1980s, starting with his first act, notably with singer (and-then girlfriend) Sinitta Malone. Cowell would later describe in interviews (and in his autobiography I Don't Mean to be Rude, but...) that he learned more from Pete Waterman in a short time than an entire career with a major label.
In 1989, he became an A&R consultant for BMG at the age of 30.
Burton and Cowell set up Fanfare Records. From 1985 to 1989, Fanfare enjoyed success with its artist, Sinitta (born Sinitta Renet Malone).
One notable failure of Cowell's was his inability to sign the Spice Girls.
Subsequently, Cowell signed a number of acts to S Records that made a mark in the pop music world, including Curiosity Killed the Cat, Sonia, 5ive, record-setting UK chart-toppers Westlife, and surprise actors-turned-singers Robson & Jerome. He also released a recording featuring the wrestlers of the World Wrestling Federation. It was a huge success. Cowell set up another label, Syco Records, in 2002 which later became part of Columbia Records and Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Artists such as Il Divo and contestants from The X Factor and America's Got Talent are released on Syco.
Pop Idol and American Idol
Cowell became a judge on the first season of Pop Idol in the year of 2001, and did the same for American Idol in 2002 and his acerbic style of judging was a major reason for these shows becoming popular. This was especially so for American Idol, where in its first season, talk about "that nasty guy Simon" gained the show media attention, more so than the hosts or contestants. Cowell's fame (or infamy) grew, fed by his deliberately insincere signature phrase, "I don't mean to be rude, but …". One from 2005 was "You look like the Incredible Hulk's wife." Cowell also appeared on the one-off World Idol program in 2003, where it became clear that each country's version of the Idol had attempted to come up with its own "Simon Cowell", further proving his effectiveness as a villain. In 2003, Cowell placed #33 on Channel 4's list of the all-time 100 Worst Britons perhaps due to some people perceiving him as spiteful and arrogant.
Cowell's S Records signed the top two finishers of the first season of Pop Idol, Will Young and Gareth Gates, both of whom went on to have #1 UK hits. In June 2003, Cowell sold his half-share in S Records for $42 million to BMG, thus becoming a multi-millionaire.
I Don't Mean to be Rude, But…
In December 2003, Cowell published a book, I Don't Mean to Be Rude, But…. In it, he recounted his childhood, his years working in the music industry, his experiences on Pop Idol and American Idol, and finally, his tips for being successful as a pop star.
Il Divo
Efforts began in 2001 materialised in 2004, when Cowell returned to his group manufacturing roots with his latest brainchild, the internationally successful operatic pop group Il Divo, consisting of four young opera singers of four different nationalities. Inspired by the success of Il Divo, Simon created a child version, Angelis who entered the charts at number 2, beating competition from many similar groups emerging at christmas 2006.
The X Factor
In 2004, Cowell created (under his production company Syco), and was a judge on the then new British TV talent show The X Factor, with Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh. The X Factor was a success with viewers and returned for a second and third series in 2005 and 2006.
Cowell was sued by Pop Idol creator Simon Fuller in 2005 over The X Factor, saying it was too much a copy of Pop Idol, but after a while, they settled out of court. The case was adjourned on the first day, and settled with Cowell's Idol salary increased to $36 million a year from $8 million before while Simon Fuller would gain a minority stake in X Factor. Upon the settlement, Cowell signed a new five-season American Idol agreement with Fox.
American Inventor
On March 16, 2006, Simon Cowell's next competition show, American Inventor, debuted on ABC. Fledgling entrepreneurs from across America will compete to see who can come up with the best new product concept. The winner, Janusz Liberkowski, received USD$1 million and the opportunity to develop his idea into a business. The show returns again in 2007, after a solid performance in a tough slot.
America's Got Talent
Cowell is the executive producer of America's Got Talent, along with Fremantle producers of the Idol series. However, Cowell is not a producer of any of the Idol series, only a judge. The show was a huge success for NBC, drawing around 12 million viewers a week, and beating So You Think You Can Dance on FOX (produced by rival and Idol creator Simon Fuller). The show heads to Britain and Australia in 2007.
Celebrity Duets
Cowell also executive-produces Celebrity Duets, which can be described as "an Idol show for Hollywood superstars." The show is hosted by Wayne Brady, and its judges are Marie Osmond, Little Richard and David Foster.
Guest appearances
Cowell appeared as a guest voice in an episode of The Simpsons ("Smart and Smarter"), in which he gets beaten up by Homer (while criticizing Homer's punches), and made a cameo appearance as himself in Scary Movie 3, where he sits in judgment during a battle rap (and subsequently gets killed by gunfire for criticizing the rappers). He also appears as a character Shrek 2 as a judge in Far, Far Away Idol, but does not provide the voice.
Cowell introduced entertainer Dick Clark at the 2006 Primetime Emmy Awards.
Trivia
- Besides judging unknowns, occasionally Cowell comments on already-established pop icons, for example, opining in Esquire magazine that Beyoncé Knowles was overrated, or on the more positive side, saying that Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" was one of the best pop records ever made. [3]
- When he was Punk'd by Ryan Seacrest and Randy Jackson on the season Five premiere, he became the seventh resident of a country outside of North America to get "Punk'd".
- He appeared on an episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and Saturday Night Live in 2004.
- Cowell maintains an apparently lavish lifestyle with several houses in San Francisco and one in London, as well as a Ferrari and a Rolls Royce Phantom.
- In 2006, Cowell, as well as American Idol, were satirised in the film American Dreamz in which Hugh Grant played an essentially useless host and obnoxious judge of an American Idol type show. In the same year, they were parodied in the Nickelodeon television episode "Fairy Idol" from The Fairly OddParents produced by Butch Hartman.
- Cowell was once the fastest "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" on BBC's motoring show Top Gear, driving a Suzuki Liana around the show's test track in a time of 1:47.1. When Top Gear retired the Liana along with the Liana's driver rankings after the eighth series, Cowell was the eighth fastest overall and the third fastest non-professional driver.
- Also on Top Gear it was revealed that Cowell pays more than £21.7m per year in income tax, suggesting that his taxable income is over £54.25m per year with income tax at the time approx 40%. [4] [5] (NB: UK Income Tax 40% for earnings over £33,300)
- In Tony Hawks' book One Hit Wonderland, Cowell says that he does occasionally make mistakes- "The first time I saw Gary Barlow in Take That, I said to the producer: 'Ditch the fat one.'"
- Cowell guest-starred (filling in for Regis) in the popular talk show Live with Regis and Kelly during American Idol's finalist week in early 2006.
- He criticized Gary Brolsma for doing Numa Numa on American Idol.
- In his 2003 book I Don't Mean to Be Rude, But...: Backstage Gossip from American Idol & the Secrets that Can Make You a Star, Cowell cites Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You out of My Head" as one of the five all-time greatest pop records.
- During the audition process for the fifth season of American Idol, Cowell passed over the season's top two most successful contestants: Chris Daughtry and eventual winner Taylor Hicks. By contrast, only a few weeks into the top 12, Cowell announced on Larry King Live that he thought the winner would either be Kellie Pickler, Daughtry, or Hicks.
- Normally, After an American Idol performance, Randy and Paula give good comments and Simon gives a bad comment; On one instance, it was the opposite for Carrie Underwood.
References
- ^ Times Online
- ^ Amazon - "I Don't Mean to Be Rude, But..."
- ^ USA Weekend - "Simon sez (... everything, with brutal honesty)"
- ^ Times Online
- ^ UK Income Tax Rates
External links
