Simon Cowell - Simon Cowell Hits Back At Sir Elton

The Rocket Man sparked a war of words with Cowell last year (10) by calling his singing competitions "boring" and "brain-crippling" and claiming the reality TV mogul treats American Idol and The X Factor contestants like "products".

Sir Elton also blamed Cowell for destroying mainstream artists' careers, but the music executive denies having a monopoly on the charts.

And he insists the Candle In The Wind hitmaker should quit complaining - and start investing his money in helping wannabe stars.

He tells CNN host Piers Morgan, "This is somebody who charges what, a million dollars a private gig? Two million dollars, you know? I don't know whether he's concerned about himself - maybe he is.

"But they always bleat on that we're not giving other people a chance. And I always want to say to them, 'I tell you what, you just made a million dollars off your last private gig. Go and give it to a bunch of young musicians you care about, put them in the studio. Go and nurture them. Go and spend some time looking after them. Then I'll buy your argument.' They're only worried about themselves...

"It doesn't matter whether you've got a top 100 or a top 200. You know, what you want is people back into stores buying music. I mean, how can that be a bad thing?"