Simon Fuller
Simon Fuller (born
17th May 1960) is an
English record and television producer who is best known as the manager of the
Spice Girls and as the creator of the
Idol series, first seen as
Pop Idol and over 50 other versions including
American Idol,
Canadian Idol, and
World Idol.
Fuller is Chief Executive of
19 Entertainment, which he founded in 1985. Prior to forming 19 Entertainment, from 1981 to 1985, Mr. Fuller worked at
Chrysalis, in publishing (Chrysalis Limited) and
A&R (Chrysalis Records). When he discovered
Paul Hardcastle in the mid-1980s he set out on his own and propelled Hardcastle to number one with his
Vietnam war song, "
19". After this success, he decided to name his management company 19 Entertainment. He also managed
Annie Lennox, originally from the 1980s
pop group
Eurythmics.
Fuller did not create the
Spice Girls but he managed them through the peak of their success. The 'PR svengali' (as 'affectionately' described by the British media) also ventured into sports management in the mid 1990s, where he guided footballer
Steve McManaman to
Real Madrid and then later managed to land superstar
David Beckham as well. The latter had famously married one of the Spice Girls - "Posh Spice" (Victoria). Under Fuller, the Spice Girls rose to chart toppers status, this despite the increasing number of disputes concerning the alleged financially domineering aspects of Fuller's management. However, the situation deteriorated by the end of the 1990s and Fuller was fired by the girls in July 1997.
Fuller was not gone long before he was approached to manage former Spice Girls
Emma Bunton and
Victoria Beckham in the launch of their new solo careers. Fuller also hoped to create his own Spice Girls in
21st Century Girls; however, that group failed to achieve the level of success he envisioned.
Nonetheless, Fuller decided to create a mixed-gender pop group with a twist. He elected to wield considerably greater power in management in order to prevent mutiny, and thus merged the roles of both manager and creator when he created
S Club 7In the late 1990's Fuller came up with one of the definitive television ideas of the 2000s when he created the television show formats of
Pop Idol,
American Idol,
World Idol and other spin-offs.
Since January 2000, Fuller has been involved in Popworld Limited, a multi-artist pop brand and online portal, as an investor and director. Fuller is also at work on an Internet portal called I Love, where songs will be available for downloading onto wireless devices.
In March 2005, Fuller sold his company,
19 Entertainment, to
Robert Sillerman's
CKX, Inc. in a cash and stock deal worth £100 million ($192 million). Fuller will remain in his role as 19's CEO and has become a director of CKX.
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Simon Fuller on World Top 100 A&R Chart
