Simon Cowell

He supports various charities that work with underprivileged children. He is involved with the association of Children’s Hospices and has appeared in a PETA video.

Simon Cowell was born to Eric Philip Cowell and Julie Brett. His father was an estate agent and music industry executive, while his mother was a ballet dancer. He is of mixed ancestry, and has one brother and several half-siblings.

He attended Radlett Preparatory school but did not like the discipline of school life and was frequently reprimanded for bad behaviour.

He went to Dover College, but dropped out before completing his education. He had interests in films and music, but not in academics.

He did several menial jobs after dropping out. His father arranged for him to attend interviews for various jobs, but Cowell found those boring. He got an opportunity to work as a runner on the sets of the movie ‘The Shining’, but he left as he could not get along with other staff members.

He finally landed a job as a mail room clerk at EMI Music Publishing with the help of his father. His interest in music and television enabled him to move up the ladder and he became an assistant to an A & R executive in 1979.

He left the company in the early 1980s and formed E&S Music in collaboration with his former boss but the company did not last long.

In 1985, he formed the Fanfare Records with partner Iain Burton. The company produced hits like ‘So macho’ and ‘Toyboy’ and enjoyed short term success. The company closed down in 1989 forcing Cowell to move-in with his parents.

He was offered the position of an A&R Consultant by BMG in 1989. His responsibility was to scout for talent and find new artists for the company. He did well and introduced artists like Robson & Jerome to the music industry.

He is well-known for being a brutally honest judge on the reality television shows, ‘Pop Idol’, ‘American Idol’ and ‘The X factor’, who commented on the participants’ performance and abilities in an insulting and scathing manner.

He created the highly successful television show franchises ‘The X Factor’ and ‘Got Talent’, which became so popular in the U.S. and U.K. that it led to spin-offs in several other countries all over the world.