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The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

Simon Cowell Opens Up About His Heartbreaking Loss, "losing them was the hardest thing that happened to me"!

The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

FlightStory

Society & Culture, Business, Education

4.613.2K Ratings

🗓️ 10 June 2024

⏱️ 134 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

From working in the post room in a record label to becoming the world’s best known music mogul, this is the Simon Cowell you don’t see on TV. Simon Cowell is a world-renowned record producer, talent scout, and music mogul. He is best known for being a judge on some of the world’s most popular TV shows including, ‘The X Factor’, ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, ‘Pop Idol’, and ‘American Idol’. In this episode, Simon and Steven discuss topics such as, being bankrupt at 30, working his way up from the bottom, his life threatening accident, how his son’s birth changed his life, and his one and only regret about One Direction. (00:00) Intro (00:52) Early Context (02:38) Your Parents (03:53) Your Work Ethic, Where Does That Come From (06:41) The Importance of Respect (10:23) Making the Decision to Pursue Entertainment (15:45) Working in the Post Room at a Record Label (19:24) Making His Way Up in the Music Industry (23:21) Starting a Record Label with Your Boss (28:40) Creating Your First Smash Hit Record (31:58) I Don't Know How Music Is Made, Staying in the Mind of the Consumer (39:40) Going Broke Right After Creating Your First Smash Hit (46:39) Meeting Pete Waterman, a Moment That Changed Everything (50:37) Being an Early Adopter of TV (59:50) Following Your Gut Regardless of the Criticism (01:06:30) Finding Westlife (01:09:30) Your Father Passing Away (01:17:37) Your Life Changing After Your Son, Eric, Was Born (01:23:09) Loyalty, Why It's So Important to Me (01:25:35) Setting New Work Boundaries in My New Life (01:29:15) Advice for a Young Simon Cowell (01:32:03) The Importance of Hard Work (01:34:30) Your Accident, Breaking Your Back in 3 Places (01:39:39) Going to Therapy (01:45:56) Foundational Advice for Anyone Starting Out in Their Career (01:49:39) The Importance of Legacy (01:53:02) The Rise of Bullying (01:55:02) One Direction (01:58:11) Searching for a New Boy Band (02:03:33) Harry Styles (02:05:54) AI Within the Music Industry (02:09:48) Will One Direction Get Back Together? (02:11:14) The Last Guest's Question Follow Simon: Instagram - https://bit.ly/4c5bKK0 Twitter - https://bit.ly/3yKu9xg Simon Cowell Launches Nationwide Hunt For Next UK Boyband Phenomenon Audition, sign up here - https://g2ul0.app.link/WnrZDXcwjKb Watch the episodes on Youtube - https://g2ul0.app.link/3kxINCANKsb My new book! 'The 33 Laws Of Business & Life' is out now - https://smarturl.it/DOACbook Sponsors: Linkedin Jobs: https://www.linkedin.com/doac Colgate - https://www.colgate.com/en-gb/colgate-total Uber: https://p.uber.com/creditsterms Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

It was the most devastating thing that ever happened in my life thinking what have I got to live for and

0:05.0

oh gosh

0:09.0

after you've been there. success is staggering who's changed the landscape of television and music.

0:24.0

Absolutely dreadful.

0:26.0

As a kid, you were quite naive, weren't you?

0:28.0

Seriously naive.

0:29.0

I'm trying to take on the world with a music publishing company which fails in the cart part and then you go from there to

0:34.0

I'm going to start my own record label at 24. I met Cenita in this club and I thought I'm going to make a record with that.

0:40.8

I don't know how our records mate. I't read music, but let's just do it.

0:45.4

The first time it flopped, second time it flopped, even when I had the hit, I owed the bank

0:50.1

five hundred thousand pounds and I'm broke, but I would rather be mocked for being different than being safe.

0:57.0

Do you remember this single? Their album hits Number One?

1:01.0

Yeah, but this was a real bittersweet time because I get a phone call which starts with

1:06.0

that you sitting down and I was on a downward spiral from that period.

1:09.8

It became a ridiculous workaholic working until 7 o'clock in the morning,

1:14.7

suffering from depression. And the truth is I still suffer from depression at times.

1:21.2

What about One Direction? The one thing I regret about One Direction? One Direction is...

1:23.0

The one thing I regret about One Direction is...

1:26.0

So, boys, if you're listening... Simon, in order to understand the man that sits with me today. What is the early context that I must know about

1:47.0

that will help me to

1:50.0

understand the Simon Cow that all of us know so well. What is that early context that the oven that you were you were cooked in?

2:00.0

Well, I had a happy childhood. I was always bored though.

...

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