Date of Birth
7 October 1959, Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK
Birth Name
Simon Phillip Cowell
Nickname
Mr. Nasty
Judge Dread
Height
5′ 9″ (1.75 m)
Mini Biography
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.
Trade Mark
Brutally honest
Solid-coloured shirts and sweaters (usually white, grey or black) with jeans.
Trivia
Dropped out of school at the age of 16.
Has 3 half-brothers, John, Michael and Tony, a half sister, June, a biological sister, Lindsay Elizabeth and a younger brother Nicholas Cowell.
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…”]
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.
His former girlfriend is Terri Seymour. [2004]
His sister’s husband is the cousin of pop star Robbie Williams.
he has 2 nieces and a nephew, namely: Tanyette Chantel (born October 18, 1981), Melissa Lee (born July 10, 1984), and Joshua Aaron, (born April 15, 1986) all 3 of whom have appeared in the audience during various episodes of Pop Idol Season 1.
His best friend is his London neighbor Jackie St Claire.
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.
Made his screen debut in 1990, on the UK TV series ‘Sale of the Century’, his prize for winning – Kitchen Utensils.
In 2007, Forbes Magazine estimated his U.S. earnings at $45 million for the year.
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 who his dad had predicted would become big.
Allergic to lambs’ wool. Buys expensive cashmere jumpers.
Ranked #6 in the 2008 Telegraph’s list “the 100 most powerful people in British culture”.
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.
He is good friends with Emma Noble.
The Sunday Times List estimated his net worth at $196 million. [2009]
Personal Quotes
I’d accept an honour but I don’t think I’m likely to get one. The Queen once described me as a dreadful man
To a Pop Idol contestant: “Let me throw a mathematical dilemma at you – there’s 500 left, well how come the odds of you winning are a million to one?”
[Asked if he feels guilty about what he says to the American Idol contestants] “No, what I am doing is kind by telling people who are useless ‘Do something that you’re good at’. So I would only feel guilt if I misled somebody who was terrible.”
We’ve done three seasons of American Idol and by now it is safe to assume that most people know that you have to be able to sing. But people turn up who can’t sing a note and yet they believe they are the Second Coming.
Sit in these auditions for three weeks and hear “I Believe I Can Fly” out of tune for the millionth time, YOU try and be nice
If you would have asked me what I thought of America before I came over here I would have used the word ‘corny’. And then you come over here and you find that it’s not corny at all. British people are very cynical, they cannot bear someone else’s success. Americans embrace other people’s success. Everything in America is larger than life.
[To the infamous Keith who sang a horrible rendering of ‘Like a Virgin’] “Keith, last year I described someone as being the worst singer in America. I think you’re possibly the worst singer in the world … I’ve never, ever heard anything like that in my life, ever.”
I don’t want babies the same way I wouldn’t want a puppy. It’s too much responsibility.
I don’t take myself seriously and I don’t consider myself a star.
[On Michael Jackson] “The guy is off his rocker.”
They [Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson] loved him. I couldn’t stand him [Taylor Hicks]. I didn’t get it. At the end of the day you have to find a bona fide recording artist. Just because you win the show doesn’t mean you will sell a lot of records. Chris [Daughtry] is the one who sold the albums, not Taylor.
[About the day of his father’s death and Westlife at number one]: The ultimate irony. The worst thing that could happen, and the best – all in the one day. It just shocked me to the core. I just never thought my dad wouldn’t be around. I phoned him to tell him about the Number One, because that’s what I did. When something good happened, I called my dad. At first my mother couldn’t even tell me he was dead. She just listened to me burbling on. Then she called me back to tell me. Awful.
Sometimes it’s mind-numbingly boring and it shows on my face. (about American Idol)
Music videos have become the equivalent of moving wallpaper. You notice them, but you can’t remember them.
What luxury would I take to a desert island? A mirror. It’s true. I’d miss me.
I don’t want to marry anyone, because whoever marries me will end up hating me.
If I went to a psychiatrist, it would be a long session. I’ve always thought that I do have a number of issues that probably need dealing with, because I am quite odd in some ways. I get very dark moods for no reason. Nothing in particular brings it on. You can be having the best time of your life and yet you’re utterly and totally miserable. I get very antisocial, depressed and irritable with people. I don’t have time for them. I can’t make phone calls and stuff. I just sit on my own for days. I’m not sitting in a darkened room rocking. Things might have gone really well and then I torture myself. I cannot believe it. I have to find something to make me miserable. Someone said to me recently: ‘You’re like a human buffet table. Everyone comes and takes something from you and, at the end, there’s nothing left’. The last time I felt that way was when I looked at my diary and realised I had the next 18 months planned. I could tell you where I was going to be every day – which city, what time and almost what I was going to eat. That really depressed me.
What is there to be excited about turning 50? Can’t we just pretend it is not going to happen?
[on plastic surgery] I think you’ve got to be very careful as a guy, in particular, that you can end up looking really, really weird.
[on Botox] Of course I have had it. I mean, for me, it’s like cleaning my teeth, you know? Something makes your teeth whiter or something stops you having lines.
Did you know that if you subscribe to our website, you will receive email notifications whenever content changes or new content is added.
1. Enter your e-mail address below and click the Sign Me Up button.
2. You will receive an email asking you to confirm your intention of subscribing to our site.
3. Click the link in the email to confirm. That’s all there is to it! Note: if you wish to unsubscribe from our site, click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email you received.
Then indicate you no longer wish to receive our emails.
Thank You
Prisonbreakfreak.com Team