His father's connections originally got him rehired as the assistant to an A&R man. From there onwards, Simon worked his way up and eventually got promoted to a music publishing position but left during the early 1980s to form E&S Music with his boss at EMI, Ellis Rich, now Chairman of the Performing Right Society. The company had several hit records at one point with five singles in the Read more...

Cowell became a judge on the first series of Pop Idol in 2001, and on the first season of American Idol in 2002. Many viewers of American Idol know Cowell best for his bitingly critical comments and attitude. He is so prominently identified with being blunt and harsh in commentary that audiences on American Idol can make it difficult for him to speak, sometimes booing him even before he makes his Read more...

In 2004, with Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh, Cowell was a judge on the first series of the British talent show The X Factor, which he created using his production company, Syco. The X Factor was an instant success with the viewers and returned three more times to its fourth series in 2007. In 2006, he was voted the tenth most terrifying celebrity on television in a Radio Times poll consisting Read more...