Simon Phillip Cowell (/ˈkaʊəl/; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur, and record executive. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows Pop Idol (2001–2003), The X Factor UK (2004–2010, 2014–2018) and Britain’s Got Talent (2007–present), and the American television talent competition shows American Idol (2002–2010), The X Factor US (2011–2013) and America’s Got Talent (2016–present). Cowell founded the British entertainment company Syco in 2005, as well as its now-defunct predecessor, Syco Music (also known as S Records) in 2002.
After some success in the 1980s and 1990s as a record producer, talent agent and consultant in the UK music industry, Cowell came to public prominence in 2001 as a judge on Pop Idol, a talent television show which he and its creator Simon Fuller successfully pitched to ITV Controller of Entertainment Claudia Rosencrantz. He subsequently created The X Factor in 2004 and Got Talent in 2006, which have become successful television franchises sold around the world.
Cowell often makes blunt and controversial comments as a television music and talent show judge, including insults and wisecracks about contestants and their singing abilities. He combines activities in both the television and music industries. Cowell has produced and promoted successful singles and albums for various recording acts whom he has signed to his record label Syco Music, including Little Mix, James Arthur, Labrinth, Leona Lewis, Fifth Harmony, Olly Murs, Noah Cyrus, Fleur East, Ella Henderson, and Susan Boyle. He has also signed successful boy bands such as Westlife, One Direction, PrettyMuch, and CNCO.
In 2004 and 2010, Time named Cowell one of the 100 most influential people in the world.[1][2] In 2008, The Daily Telegraph ranked him sixth in their list of the “100 most powerful people in British culture”.The same year, he received the Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards. At the 2010 British Academy Television Awards, Cowell received the BAFTA Special Award for his “outstanding contribution to the entertainment industry and for his development of new talent”.[5] In 2018, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the television category.
Simon Phillip Cowell was born on 7 October 1959in Lambeth, London, and raised in Elstree, Hertfordshire. His mother, Julie Brett (née Josie Dalglish, 1925–2015), was a ballet dancer and socialite, and his father, Eric Selig Phillip Cowell (1918–1999), was an estate agent, property developer, and music industry executive.[10] Cowell’s father was from a mostly Jewish family (his own mother was born in Poland),[11] though he did not discuss his ancestry with his children. Cowell’s mother was from a Christian background.He has a younger brother, Nicholas Cowell; three half brothers, John, Tony, and Michael Cowell; and a half sister, June Cowell.
Cowell attended Radlett Preparatory School, Licensed Victuallers’ School in Ascot for one year,[14] and the private Dover College, as did his brother, but left after taking GCE O levels. He passed English Language and Literature and then attended Windsor Technical College, where he gained another GCE in Sociology.Cowell took a few menial jobs—including, according to his brother Tony, working as a runner on Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror film The Shining—but did not get along well with colleagues and bosses, until his father, who was an executive at EMI Music Publishing, managed to get him a job in the mail room. However, after failing to get a promotion, he left to try out other jobs before returning to EMI.
