Simon Cowell is the creator and executive producer of "America's Got Talent," NBC's summer reality competition series, which brings the variety format back to the forefront of American culture.
Cowell has worked in the music industry for 28 years. He started out in the post room at EMI Music Publishing, but after launching his own label at the age of 23, he joined BMG in 1989 and began a professional relationship so far spanning 20 years.
During his time at BMG, Cowell has sold over 150 million records and has had over 70 number one records in America and the U.K. His artists include Westlife -- whose first seven singles all went to the U.K. number one; Opera quartet Il Divo, whose first two albums have collectively sold 20 million copies worldwide; and Leona Lewis, whose album "Spirit" became the biggest selling debut album of all time in 2007 in the U.K., and Lewis became the first U.K. female in over 20 years to debut at number one in the Billboard Hot 100 and 200. Simon Cowell's music label, SYCO Music, has also sold over 50 million "American Idol"-themed albums in the past four years alone, including those of Grammy Award winner Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken and Carrie Underwood.
Cowell's trademark candor and eye for talent during his last five seasons on "American Idol" has made him a household name both in the United States and in the U.K. on "The X Factor" and "Britain's Got Talent."
Cowell, through his leading U.K.-based media and entertainment company, SYCO, recently became the first producer to simultaneously have the number one program in the U.K. and U.S. as "Britain's Got Talent" and "America's Got Talent" topped the TV charts in the same week in 2007. Cowell is also the creator and executive producer of "American Inventor."
"The X Factor" is currently in its fifth season and has won a BAFTA award for two years running. It has also won Entertainment Show of the Year at the National Television Awards.
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