SIMON SAYS: CHEERS

This evening in Blighty, SYCO’s Big Dog himself, Simon Cowell, will be honoured with the annual Music Industry Trusts Award for his huge achievements as not only a top U.K. exec, but perhaps THE top A&R guy, as well as for his philanthropic efforts.

The 24th annual London gala will aid music-therapy charity Nordoff Robbins and the BRIT Trust.

The gong comes at a prime time for Sony’s mastermind, after a nearly decade-long purple patch with the likes of Leona Lewis, Susan Boyle, Il Divo, Olly Murs, JLS, Little Mix and One Direction.

As acts that have graduated from Cowell’s TV talent show franchises The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, all the above have enjoyed Cowell’s magic touch and become some of the biggest worldwide acts of the last decade.

During One Direction’s five-year tenure, the band—put together by Cowell after auditioning individually for The X Factor—have sold more than 50 million records and headlined four sold-out world tours.

JLS emerged in 2008 and went on to sell six million records, Olly Murs is now four albums into his career, and Little Mix have claimed two Top 5 albums in the U.S, with their third out on 11/6.

All in all, artists discovered by the X Factor have sold more than 200 million records worldwide, including 200 #1s, and 380 Top 10 records. Acts Cowell has worked with have sold more than 350 million records to date.

Before starting SYCO Entertainment, Cowell worked in A&R at EMI Music Publishing, served as an consultant for BMG and co-founded the E&S Music and Fanfare Records ventures—and then began an extraordinary TV career. He first appeared on television as a judge on the U.K. talent show Pop Idol, before leading the judging panel on American Idol and eventually starting The X Factor. In addition to becoming one of Britain’s most popular TV programmes, The X Factor is now produced in 56 territories and airs in 168 countries around the world.

Cowell is also the creator and currently a judge on Britain’s Got Talent. This year, the season finale had a peak audience of 13.4 million, making it the biggest U.K. show in 2015. The Got Talent format officially holds the Guinness Book of World Records title for highest number of adaptations, making it the world’s most successful reality TV format.

America’s Got Talent, meanwhile, was nominated for a Primetime Emmy and currently airs in 193 countries with original versions of the format being produced in 66 territories worldwide. In total, over 1 billion people tune in every year.

He must be spent, but hopefully Cowell won’t be too exhausted to let his hair down at the ceremony tonight. We’ll be there to report what goes down, so watch this space for his acceptance speech, plus any news of drunken debauchery.