quark
Simon Cowell
47 Fans
Age
57
Birthday
Oct. 7th, 1959
Born in
Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK
Height
5' 9"
Guest TV Roles
[none found]Simon was born in Brighton, England. His parents' names are Julie Cowell and Eric Cowell. First made a TV appearance on UK's Pop Idol. Then on America's American Idol.
TRIVIA:
- His father Eric Cowell was a record company executive with EMI. He died at home in 1999 of a massive heart attack on the very day that Simon got his first Number One with a then-unknown band called 'Westlife' (qv) who his dad had predicted would become big.
- During auditions for 'The X Factor', he made a bet with auditionee Paul Holt that he would pay him £50,000 if he got a #1 single. Holt was quickly signed by a record label - and backed by X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne - to release "50 Grand for Christmas" in December 2004, which only charted at #35 in the UK.
- He worked as a mail boy at EMI and eventually worked his way to become an A&R representative.
- Says that the first time he gave a criticism was at age four when he looked at his mother's white fuzzy pillbox hat and remarked "Mum, you look like a poodle" [Source: His book "I Don't Mean to Be Rude, But..."]
- Dropped out of school at 16
- Has 3 half-brothers, John, Michael and Tony, a half sister, June, a biological sister, Lindsay Elizabeth and a younger brother 'Nicholas Cowell' (qv).
- During an auditioning, a female participant told Simon and the other judges that she quit her job at a hair salon so she can pursue her dreams on American Idol; when getting rejected, Simon had asked for the phone and called the owner of the participant workplace where the rejected contestant got her job back.
- In 2007, he earned an estimated $72 million in income from his various projects. $45 million from American Idol, $15 million from Britain's Got Talent and X Factor, and $12 million from his record label.
