Ian “Dicko” Dickson appears as one of the judges in the Fox television network’s competitive reality TV series American Band. His original name is Ian Ross Perrygrove, and he was born on March 28, 1963 in Birmingham, West Midlands, England. He also appeared as a judge for the reality television competition series Australian Idol, and is best known as both a television personality and music industry expert for the land down under. During the early 1980s, Dickson earned a degree in politics from the University of Nottingham, before he continued to pursue studies in music journalism. Around this same time, he also met his future wife Mel Bell in Bristol.

With her help, he was able to break into the music industry, and soon began working for a number of record companies. Dickson managed a steadily increasing rotation of various artists and bands. In 2001, he moved to Sydney in order to work for Sony BMG Australia as a general manager of marketing. And by 2003, he became more well-known for his role as “Mr. Nasty” on Australian Idol, their equivalent of Simon Cowell. Dickson is also very good friends with Cowell, dating back to their days together in the British music scene, and Cowell encouraged him to become the “villainous” judge on Australian Idol.


(Photo courtesy of FOX)