U2 Producer Lillywhite Wants Cowell’s Idol Job
By WENNSaturday, March 6, 2010
Revered hitmaker STEVE LILLYWHITE has added his name to the list of potential SIMON COWELL replacements on AMERICAN IDOL, insisting he wants to find the next ELVIS.
The Grammy Award-winning producer, who has worked with U2, the Dave Matthews Band and the Rolling Stones, among others, wants to be the hit talent show’s next tough-talking Brit.
The New York-based music mogul has hired an agent and publicist specifically to help him land the job Cowell will be vacating in May (10). He has also posted a resume video on YouTube.com.
Lillywhite tells Billboard.com, “I think I have the right credentials. I’m quite effervescent. I’m quite opinionated. I’m funny. I can do this job. If people say, ‘Oh, you’re just a rock producer,’ I’m not. I’m a pop producer because pop music is popular music. I’d like to think a lot of the things I do are popular.”
And, further selling himself as the right man for the job, the producer adds, “I don’t run a business or anything like that, so when I’m not in the studio I’m not doing anything… I would be perfect for just putting everything aside for six months. I would really scour the country and find some great nuggets.”
Lillywhite, who is currently producing the new Evanescence album, already has a history with Idol’s judges - he’s a longtime acquaintance of Cowell’s and once produced Randy Jackson when he played bass on Aretha Franklin’s cover of the Rolling Stones’ Jumping Jack Flash.
