50 facts you didn’t know about Simon Cowell

Learn 50 interesting things about Simon Cowell

1. Simon Phillip Cowell is an English television talent judge and mentor, music and television producer, and music talent scout (aka A&R executive).

2. Simon Cowell is most recognized as a judge on the English TV talent competition series Pop Idol, The X Factor, and Britain's Got Talent, and the American TV singing competition shows American Idol and The X Factor.

3. Simon Cowell owns the television production and music publishing house Syco.

4. Simon Cowell combines activities in both the television and music industries.

5. Simon Cowell has produced and promoted singles and albums for various artists, including television personalities.

6. Simon Cowell was most recently featured on the ninth series of Britain's Got Talent and the eleventh series of UK's The X Factor.

7. In 2004 and 2010, American magazine Time named Cowell one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

8. In 2010, the British magazine New Statesman listed Cowell at number 41 in a list of "50 People who Matter [in] 2010".

9. Simon Cowell was born in Lambeth, London, England, and brought up in Elstree, Hertfordshire.

10. His mother, Julie Brett (née Josie Dalglish), was a ballet dancer and socialite, and his father, Eric Selig Phillip Cowell, Sr. was an estate agent developer and music industry executive.

11. Cowell's father was from a mostly Jewish family, though he did not discuss his background with his children (Cowell's paternal grandmother had emigrated from Poland).

12. Cowell's mother was from a Christian background, and is of English descent.

13. Simon Cowell has a younger brother, Nicholas Cowell, three half-brothers, John, Tony, and Michael Cowell, and a half-sister, June Cowell.

14. Simon Cowell attended Radlett Preparatory School and the independent Dover College as did his brother, but left after taking GCE O levels.

15. Simon Cowell passed in English Language and Literature and then attended Windsor Technical College where he gained another GCE in Sociology.

16. Simon Cowell was given the role of judge on the first series of Pop Idol in the UK by then ITV Controller of Entertainment Claudia Rosencrantz in 2001, he was then judge on the first season of American Idol in 2002.

17. With his notoriously critical reputation, Cowell is likened to TV personalities such as Judith Sheindlin and Anne Robinson.

18. Cowell also appeared on the one-off World Idol programme in 2003, where it became clear that each country's version of the Idol had attempted to come up with its own "Simon Cowell" type personality.

19. In 2003, Cowell placed No 33 on Channel 4's list of the all-time 100 Worst Britons.

20. 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 No 1 UK hits.

21. Efforts begun 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 three opera singers and one pop singer of four different nationalities. Inspired by the success of Il Divo, Simon created a child version, Angelis, beating competition from similar groups emerging at Christmas 2006.

22. On 11 January 2010, Cowell's exit from American Idol was made official. By the time Cowell left American Idol, the show was on its seventh consecutive season in its leadership among all primetime programs in the United States, even lasting up to 2011 in the longest winning streak in the U.S. overall viewership and demographics in the Nielsen ratings.

23. In 2004, with Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh, Cowell was a judge on the first series of the British television music competition The X Factor, which he created using his production company, Syco.

24. The X Factor was an instant success with the viewers and enjoyed its tenth series in 2013.

25. Leona Lewis, the winner of the third series of The X Factor, was signed to Cowell's label Syco and has had number one singles and album sales around the world.

26. In October 2010, Cowell signed a new three-year deals with ITV for both Britain's Got Talent and The X Factor, renewing both shows until 2013. On 15 November 2013, the three-year deal was extended by a further three years, keeping it on air until 2016.

27. Cowell is the executive producer of America's Got Talent, which debuted in June 2006, along with Fremantle producers of the Idol series, but he does not appear on the show due to the terms of his contract with Fox. 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).

28. Britain's Got Talent debuted on ITV in June 2007. Cowell appears as a judge alongside Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan. The show was a ratings success and second and third seasons followed in 2008 and 2009. The third series featured a publicity coup when Susan Boyle made a global media impact with her regional audition performance comparable to that of any previous talent show series winner.

29. On 16 March 2006, Simon Cowell's next competition show, American Inventor, debuted on ABC. Fledgling entrepreneurs from across the United States competed to see who could come up with the best new product concept. The 2006 winner, Janusz Liberkowski, received $1 million and the opportunity to develop his idea into a business. The show returned one more time in 2007 for a second season.

30. In 2006, Cowell executive-produced Celebrity Duets, which was described as "an Idol show for Hollywood superstars." The show was hosted by Wayne Brady, and its judges were Marie Osmond, Little Richard and David Foster.

31. In 2013 Cowell, in partnership with YouTube, launched a video-sharing competition called The You Generation.

32. In 2013, Simon was executive producer for ITV cookery series Food Glorious Food, which was hosted by Carol Vorderman.

33. Simon Cowell has been involved in charity work for many years.

34. Simon Cowell is a patron of Together for Short Lives, the leading UK charity for all children with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions.

35. He also supports animal rights and has appeared in a video for PETA in which he reminds drivers of the cruelty to animals that can occur when their pets are locked in cars in the summer.

36. In December 2003, Cowell published his autobiography titled I Don't Mean to be Rude, but.... In it, he told the whole story of his childhood, his years working in music and experiences on Pop Idol, Pop Stars Rivals, and American Idol, and finally, his tips for being successful as a pop star.

37. Simon Cowell has appeared as a guest voice in an episode of The Simpsons ("Smart and Smarter"), in which he gets beaten up by Homer Simpson (while criticising Homer's punches).

38. His voice was also heard on an episode of Family Guy ("Lois Kills Stewie"), in which he told Stewie that his singing was so awful that he should be dead.

39. Simon Cowell also appears in the DVD version of Shrek 2 as a judge in Far Far Away Idol, and also provided the voice.

40. Simon Cowell appeared on an episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? (the original British version) and Saturday Night Live in 2004.

41. Cowell has also guest-starred (filling in for Regis Philbin) in the popular talk show Live with Regis and Kelly during American Idol's finalist week in early 2006.

42. 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 its rankings after the eighth series, Cowell was the eighth fastest overall and the third fastest non-professional driver.

43. Cowell has also appeared on the MTV shows Cribs and Punk'd. On Punk'd, Ryan Seacrest and Randy Jackson set him up to believe his $400,000 Rolls Royce was stolen and had caused an accident by using a nearly identical car.

44. Cowell was chosen as the first subject of the re-launched This Is Your Life in an episode broadcast on 2 June 2007.

45. On 1 July 2007 Cowell appeared alongside Randy Jackson and Ryan Seacrest as a speaker at the Concert For Diana, held at Wembley Stadium, London.

46. At the 2012 Pride of Britain Awards on 30 October, Cowell, along with Michael Caine, Elton John, Richard Branson and Stephen Fry, recited Rudyard Kipling's poem If- in tribute to the 2012 British Olympic and Paralympics athletes.

47. Simon Cowell was engaged to make-up artist Mezhgan Hussainy from 2010 until 2011.

48. In July 2013, Andrew Silverman filed for an at-fault divorce in New York, citing adultery by his wife and naming Cowell as a co-respondent. News of the divorce filing became public two weeks later, when it was widely reported that Lauren Silverman and Cowell were expecting a baby. The child would be Cowell's first, but the second for Silverman, who has a son with Andrew Silverman. Cowell subsequently confirmed that Silverman was pregnant with his child, and she gave birth to a boy called Eric on 14 February 2014.

49. Simon Cowell was estimated to have a fortune of £200 million in the Sunday Times Rich List of 2011, making him the sixth richest person in the British music industry.

50. Simon Cowell splits his time between homes in West London and Beverly Hills.

Source: Wikipedia.org