Famous for his scathing reviews of contestants on American Idol, America’s Got Talent and The X Factor, record producer and reality show talent judge Simon Cowell is one of the most recognizable music execs in the business and always manages to get a reaction (good or bad!) Find out more about him in his Kidzworld Bio.
Lambeth Lad
Simon Cowell was born October 7th, 1959 in Lambeth, London. Music ran in Simon’s family, he isn’t the first to get on stage - his mother Julie Bett was a ballet dancer and his father was an estate agent and music executive. He has 1 brother, 3 half brothers and 1 half sister. As a teenager Simon excelled at English Literature, and later in college studied Sociology.
Mail Room to Music Exec
Simon tried a few different jobs when he was young, like working on the set of Stanley Kubrick’s film The Shining, but eventually his father got him a position at the bottom of the food chain at EMI working in the mail room. He worked his way up to assistant to a big music exec and from there his career took off in the industry, eventually he left the company and started his own, E&S with his former boss Ellis Rich. Over the next few years Simon had great success with the acts that he signed and started his label Syco Music. Contestants from shows that Simon has been a part of are signed to this label, like Leona Lewis, One Direction and Cher Lloyd.
Getting Real
After having success with Sony Music and Syco, Simon was asked to be a part of Pop Idol, a reality series in the UK, and became famous for saying “I don’t mean to be rude but...” followed by a scathing commentary on a performer’s act. He went on to be a judge on American Idol and from there on in he was known as talent judge who has no qualms about calling it as he sees it, regardless of whether what he has to say is nice or not! Simon is most well-known at the moment for being a judge on both The X Factor UK and The X Factor US, this season he is a judge alongside pop stars Demi Lovato and Britney Spears, as well as record executive L.A. Reid.
Check out this clip from Britney and Simon's interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show!
Have Your Say
What do you think of Simon Cowell? Let us know in the comments section below.
