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“I think you have to judge everything based on your personal taste. And if that means being critical, so be it. I hate political correctness. I absolutely loathe it.” While he might be one of the harshest talent critics on television, Simon Cowell is undoubtedly also one of the most influential. Known for his blunt insults and controversial comments, Cowell took the entertainment industry by storm first in Britain with Pop Idol, The X Factor, and Britain’s Got Talent before he made his way to America with American Idol, The X Factor, and America’s Got Talent. Still on the search for talent today, let’s take a look at the 59-year-old’s journey to fame!

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Early Life

Simon Phillip Cowell came into this world on October 7, 1959, in Lambeth, London, England where his mother was a ballet dancer and socialite while his father was a music industry executive and property developer. Raised alongside his younger brother, Cowell attended Radlett Preparatory School and the Independent Dover College before he enrolled at Windsor Technical College. After college, he took a string of odd jobs but struggled to find his passion until his father, an executive with EMI Music Publishing, helped him get a job in the mail room. Cowell still wasn’t satisfied and, after he missed out on a big promotion, he left EMIT to form E&S Music in the early 1980s.

E&S Music was short-lived, but Cowell refused to give up and created Fanfare Records with Iain Burton. The company sold exercise videos before they picked up their first music act and released their first hit single, “So Macho” by Sinitta, in 1986. However, like E&S, Fanfare Records couldn’t stay afloat and was bankrupt by the late 1980s. Cowell turned his attention behind the scenes and picked up a job with BMG as an A&R consultant. He established S Records under the BMG label and relaunched his music career. Over the next few years, he worked diligently to sign new acts and finally caught a break when he persuaded Robson Green and Jerome Flynn of the Soldier Soldier television series to record a cover of “Unchained Melody.” The single and the duo’s debut album became the best-selling of the year.

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Cowell’s success with Robson & Jerome turned heads as he signed several more acts throughout the 1990s. In 2001, he was invited to serve as a judge on Simon Fuller’s new series, Pop Idol. Cowell’s expertise in the industry and his blunt personality made him a fan favorite as he signed the top two finishers—Will Young and Gareth Gates—after the show’s first season. The artists went on to have several hits under Cowell’s guidance.

Cowell made the move to America in 2002 to be a judge on American Idol. He built a reputation for his overly harsh criticism and phrases like, “I don’t mean to be rude, but…” For Cowell, his likeability was natural as he later said, “In TV, film, and music there’s a lot of snobbery, and I don’t like it. I’ve never been a cultural snob. If I don’t like French food, that doesn’t make me a lesser person. I don’t have sophisticated tastes. I have average tastes. If you looked in my collection of DVDs, you’d see Jaws and Star Wars. In the book library, you’d see John Grisham and Sidney Sheldon. And if you look in my fridge, it’s like children’s food—chips, milkshakes, yogurt.”

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Talent Industry Icon: American Idol and Beyond

While on American Idol, Cowell expanded his reach and established Syco with three branches—Syco Music, Syco TV, and Syco Film. He signed the operatic pop group Il Divo and ventured to another television series in Britain, The X Factor, alongside Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh. The first season of the show produced vocal powerhouse Leona Lewis, who Cowell made into a star as he settled into his niche at finding raw talent on reality television.

In 2010, Cowell made the tough decision to leave American Idol and focus solely on his next move—bringing The X Factor to America. “The first two or three years on Idol, I had a blast. And then, as it got more and more successful, I didn’t want to do it anymore. I just felt like I was there being paid to do a role, and after a while that’s not very satisfying. So, it was hard work the last couple of years. I wanted to do this,” he said of The X Factor USA.

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Cowell also struggled with American Idol’s limitations and didn’t believe there was an age cut off in terms of talent. That’s something he vowed not to recreate with The X Factor. “How can you say, ‘You can’t be a star because of your age,’” he asked. “And I found the word Idol was obnoxious, to be honest with you. And why isn’t a 35-year-old as great as an 18-year-old? I just got to the point where this is not real, which is why I moved on… I mean, I still like the show, but I was lucky because I went through the purple period with the artists that I am still friends with now. And we have remained amazingly good friends. We speak, hang out, and talk. So, I had the good years.”

Earning even greater success with The X Factor, Cowell didn’t stay idle long and made another huge move in 2006 when he executive produced a new series, America’s Got Talent. The show was an instant success and led Cowell back to Britain where he debuted Britain’s Got Talent alongside guest judges Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan. He also executive produced Celebrity Duets, Grease Is the Word, and a handful of other projects including a partnership with YouTube called The You Generation. In 2015, he launched La Banda with the hopes of creating the ultimate Latino Boy Band.

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Today, the 59-year-old Cowell continues to stay incredibly busy with Syco and his many projects. Where does he find the energy? He hates boredom and that’s exactly what he’s determined to outrun. “I always worried because I saw it happen with people I knew, that as they got older, they just got boring,” he says. “And I always wondered: Is that what happens when you get older?” Denying boredom a place in his life, it’s easy to see why Cowell is one of the biggest and busiest names in the entertainment industry today!