Simon Philip Cowell was born on the 7 October 1959 in Brighton, UK. Cowell was born to Eric and Julie Cowell. Eric worked as a real estate agent and a music industry executive while Julie was a socialite. His siblings include one sister, Lindsay Elizabeth and one brother, Nicholas, three half-brothers: John, Michael and Tony, and a half-sister, June.

Cowell was raised in Elstree, Hertfordshire and along with his younger brother, Nicholas was cared for mainly by nannies before being sent to boarding school. Cowell was well known for poor behaviour at school and had to be transferred between sites some sixteen times before leaving school at age 16.
In 1979, Cowell commenced his first job, working as a mail room clerk at EMI Music Publishing.

Incidentally, his father was working as an executive at the company. Cowell progressed through the ranks earning status of record producer. Into the early part of the next decade and Cowell decided to go independent and worked to establish his own music company going under the name, E&S Music. However, the success of the label was abysmal and Cowell had no choice but to get back to EMI which he did less than a year since he setup his independent company.

Cowell was not going to be deterred and not too long after his return to EMI, he left and along with an EMI colleague, Iain Burton established a new independent record label going under the name, Fanfare Records. At this time, Cowell had made up hefty debts and in a revelation to Extra magazine said he owed a bank one million dollars. In 1984, Cowell met a music producer and ex-DJ on the gay scene, Pete Waterman who had already earned great success with his collaboration, Stock-Aitken-Waterman which had spawned a variety of top 80s acts. It was work with Waterman that enabled Cowell to clamber back to success and work with their first act jointly, a singer by the name of Sinitta Renet Malone. Incidentally, Sinitta was Cowell's fiancée at this time.

The climb up the promotion ladder continued well throughout the decade and following successes with Sinitta, Cowell became an A&R (artist and repertoire) consultant for BMG record label in 1989. During the years 1985 to 1989, Fanfare Records enjoyed great success especially on the back of Sinitta's thriving chart hits.

Cowell became active in signing a number of major music acts with BMG. Amongst his most notable signings include: Sonia, Curiosity Killed The Cat, 5ive, Robson & Jerome and Westlife. However he failed to cling onto the Spice Girls who went onto become one of the biggest girl bands of recent times. Cowell also had a part to play in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) releasing a music recording featuring wrestlers from the famous club.

In 2002, Cowell expanded his claim on the music market by establishing another record label, Syco Records. Syco was taken over by Columbia Records and Sony BMG Music Entertainment subsequently. Syco has also had a number of notable music artists signed to it including those stars spawned from reality TV shows Cowell has become involved in: 'America's Got Talent' and 'The X Factor'. A recent operatic quartet, Il Divo have been added to Syco's repertoire.

Back a year earlier in 2001, Simon Cowell embarked on a new road in his career that would see the growth of a popular television format that succeeds to this day - reality TV on music. Cowell took up the position of judge for 'Pop Idol', a show aimed at finding a new young musical talent judged from a huge populace of individuals who applied to demonstrate their singing abilities. The 'unkind' and 'very blunt and honest' opinions provided by Cowell in response to auditionee's performances during this show earned Cowell his 'nasty' image which contrary to making him appear unpopular has made him a household name in entertainment and very much respected. More of his 'nasty' antics continued when he became judge on an American version of 'Pop Idol' called 'American Idol' in 2002. The success of the 'Idol' format enabled it to be adapted in various languages and broadcast in a variety of countries and in the process give rise to a number of new and fresh music stars all over the world. There were the likes of Will Young, Kelly Clarkson and Kurt Nielsen who incidentally won a one-off mega competition involving Pop Idols from the world over to compete head-to-head, titled 'World Idol'.

Cowell's nastiness had such a profound effect on public opinion that in 2003, he earned the placement of 33rd position on Channel 4's programme, '100 Worst Britons' following closely behind Naomi Campbell, The Mirror's 3AM Girls and Max Clifford.

Further into 2003, Cowell sold half of his company, Syco Records to BMG for a major sum of $42 million and by now his wealth was well and truly above six figures. An autobiography followed soon after titled 'I Don't Mean To Be Rude, But...' nicely reiterating Cowell's nasty but honest remarks.

Amidst all the involvement with 'Pop Idol' and 'American Idol' and the birth of new music stars in public eyes, Cowell was embarking on a more private venture to bring around a new musical talent that he could comfortably spend time forming using his expertise. Started in 2001, Cowell ended up with an operatic quartet, each member coming from a different country, called Il Divo, in 2004. It would be a great result because Il Divo composed of Carlos Marin, David Miller, Urs Bühler, David Miller and Sébastian Izambard. Their albums, 'Il Divo' and 'Ancora' became groundbreaking successes and 'Ancora' earned the proud position of number 1 on the Billboard Albums Chart selling in excess of 150,000 copies within its first week on sale.

In 2004, Cowell decided to adopt a different slant on his involvement with music reality TV and that year he made pleas to the British public for auditions on a new show format which would invite not only 16-24 year olds to come and show off their singing abilities (as was the case with the 'Idol' show formats) but also older people and even groups of singers. The show would build upon winning formulas witnessed on the 'Idol' shows and on group talent shows like 'Popstars: The Rivals' which saw the birth of Girls Aloud. The new show format was titled 'The X Factor' and indeed aimed at seeking the most talented and very 'special' musical talent that was believed to lie elusively within the British population. By opening up the contest so freely to wider audience it was hoped this attempt would be easier to perform.

The X Factor first screen in late 2004. Joined by record producer, Sharon Osbourne and record manager, Louis Walsh as judges, Cowell was involved in reviewing the realtime auditions of some 10,000 participants at venues across the UK. After eliminating shortlisted auditionees in two further stages titled: 'Boot camp' and 'Judges' homes', the three judges would be left with a handful of acts that would perform live every week, with one act eliminated each week by the public vote and by the judges themselves. Steve Brookstein, a singer from London became The X Factor's first winner in 2004 and the huge success of the show saw it return for a second season in 2005 in which Shayne Ward became the show's second champion. Other stars have found fame on The X Factor including: G4, Andy Abraham, Chico Slimani, Brenda Edwards, Maria Lawson and Journey South.

Cowell wasn't however without troubles. In 2005, Simon Fuller the creator of the 'Pop Idol' format filed a lawsuit against Cowell claiming that 'The X Factor' had a very close resemblance to 'Pop Idol'. After a lengthy battle, the case was settled out of court. With the lawsuit hanging in the air, Cowell was denied a chance to extend his contract for further appearances on 'American Idol' but following the settlement, Cowell has signed up with Fox for a further five seasons of America's biggest music talent contest.
Cowell hasn't stopped coming up with innovative new entertainment shows. Much of his experimentation with fresh reality TV show formats have been carried out in the US and include: 'American Inventor' a show which seeked to find a new highly talented entrepreneur with a brilliant new product. The winner was Janusz Liberkowski who won $1 million. 'America's Got Talent' is another Cowell backed creation with Cowell playing the part of executive producer. 'Celebrity Duets' is yet another show in which Cowell is executive producer. The show which sees famous music stars duet withe other celebrities in a talent contest format is hosted by Wayne Brady and has seen the likes of Marie Osmond and Little Richard appear.

Today, Simon Cowell is an icon in the music and entertainment industries. His expertise and experience has seen him give rise to some of the world's biggest music stars and to disappoint millions more hopeful individuals dreaming of a career in the competitive and merciless media industries. Owning property in London, San Francisco and California, Cowell enjoys his top end lifestyle and continues to provide a wealth of entertainment on many of TV's biggest shows to date.

Sharon Osbourne was born Sharon Rachel Levy (and subsequently Arden) on the 9 October 1952 in Brixton, London. She is the daughter of Don and Hope Arden. Don (born Harry Levy) was a rock and roll music entrepreneur. Her brother is David Levy, manager of rock band, Black Sabbath who incodentally is headed by lead singer, Ozzy Osbourne to whom Sharon is married. Sharon has three children: Aimee, Kelly and Jack.

Sharon met Ozzy Osbourne at age 17 when she worked as a receptionist for her father in Ipswich. Black Sabbath were subsequently managed by Don Arden but Ozzy Osbourne was later dismissed from the band in 1979. Sharon decided to manage Ozzy and through committed efforts in bringing together a band to back Ozzy on a successful music recording: 'The Blizzard Of Ozz', Ozzy Osbourne regained his success as a solo performer.

Ozzy continued to release a number of highly popular musical recordings and with the establishment of the Ozzfest, a major metal music event played in the US and Europe featuring rock metal bands, Ozzy had become an established music name with the assistance of Sharon.

Sharon became more publicly known through television appearances which commenced in 2002 with the programme, 'The Osbournes', a real life look at the activities of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne's life at home along with their children. The show, screened by MTV proved highly popular and continued its run until a year later. Sharon then made a leap into talk shows and launched 'The Sharon Osbourne Show'. Primarily screened in the US, it was also broadcast in the UK on Sky One. The show however did not attract strong ratings and there were claims that it was Sharon's own faults at being unable to handle cue cards and perform interviews that dented ratings. After struggles to get top name celebrities onto the talk sofa, the show was axed in 2004.

Sharon continued her television appearances with a cameo role as bartender in the NBC comedy production, 'Will And Grace' in 2004. Later that year Sharon and Ozzy decided to launch a talent contest, 'Battle For Ozzfest', a show which saw rock bands compete for a place on the following year's Ozzfest. Back in the UK, Sharon made frequent appearances on television commercials for the superstore chain, Asda.
In late 2004, Sharon got involved in music reality TV when she featured as one of the judging panel on a new talent show, 'The X Factor'. Alongside, pop mogul, Simon Cowell and record manager, Louis Walsh, Sharon would be involved in reviewing the auditions of some 10,000 participants from a wide age range who believed had singing abilities worthy of a record contract. After three stages of elimination, the resulting group of contestants each divided into '16-24 year olds', '25 year olds and over' and 'group acts' would each be mentored by Sharon, Simon and Louis. A series of live shows would follow to determine the fate of the finalists with one act removed from the contest each week decided by the judges and a public vote. Steve Brookstein was the first such solo singer to win the title of 'The X Factor' in 2004 and in 2005 it was the turn of Shayne Ward. In 2004, Sharon had mentored and guided Roberta Howett, Cassie Compton and Tabby Callaghan as part of the '16-24' age group. In 2005, Sharon became lead of the '25 and over' age group and guided Andy Abraham, Brenda Edwards, Chico Slimani and Maria Lawson. On a celebrity version of the show televised in early 2006 titled 'Battle Of The Stars', Sharon mentored once again 16-24s: actress, Nikki Sanderson, rugby star, Matt Stevens and model, Michelle Marsh.
2006 saw Sharon Osbourne return to the talk show scene when ITV commissioned a new show, 'The Sharon Osbourne Show'. The teatime slot for the show will put the programme at loggerheads with Channel 4's offering, 'The New Paul O'Grady Show' hosted by the entertainer and the face behind Lily Savage, Paul O'Grady.

Today Sharon Osbourne is a household name in entertainment and music on both sides of the Atlantic with her numerous television appearances now dominating her career.