Irving Azoff (; born December 12, 1947) is an American entertainment executive and chairman of Full Stop Management, which represents recording artists such as the Eagles, Harry Styles, Christina Aguilera, The Go-Go's, Journey, Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Van Halen, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Steely Dan, Gwen Stefani, Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac, Bon Jovi, Jimmy Buffett, and entertainer Chelsea Handler.
Since September 2013, he has been chairman and CEO of Azoff MSG Entertainment, a venture with The Madison Square Garden Company. Prior to this he served as chairman and CEO of Ticketmaster Entertainment and was executive chairman of Live Nation Entertainment and CEO of Front Line Management. He is also on the board of Starz Inc. and IMG.
In 2012, he topped Billboard's Power 100 and was named the most powerful person in the music industry.
Video Irving Azoff
Biography
Raised in a Jewish family in Danville, Illinois, Azoff began promoting and booking bands while a student at Danville High School and then in college at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He moved to Los Angeles in 1970 with his first client, Dan Fogelberg. He worked for Geffen-Roberts Management and there began working with the Eagles, a relationship that has lasted more than forty years. During his career he has worked as an agent, personal manager, concert promoter, movie producer, independent record label owner, merchandiser, music publisher, and CEO of a record company.
From 1983 to 1989, Azoff was chairman of MCA Music Entertainment Group and is credited for turning around that label's fortunes.
According to Thomas R. King's book The Operator (2001), David Geffen manipulated Azoff into leaving MCA and going to Warner Music Group, where Azoff started Giant Records. King writes that Geffen wanted Azoff out at MCA to clear the way for MCA to buy Geffen Records. Geffen convinced Mo Ostin at Warner Music to offer Irving Azoff a "dream" label deal. Giant Records operated for much of the 1990s until Azoff decided to return to concentrating on artist management.
Azoff co-produced the movies Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Urban Cowboy, Jack Frost (1998 film), Above The Rim, and The Inkwell, and was executive producer of The Hurricane. He has been named "Manager of the Year" by two touring industry trade publications. In 2012, Azoff appeared in Artifact, a documentary film about the modern music business focused on the legal battle between Thirty Seconds to Mars and record label EMI. In 2015, he played a thinly veiled version of himself in the Documentary Now! parody of History of the Eagles.
Maps Irving Azoff
Business developments
In October 2008, ticketing and marketing company Ticketmaster announced they would acquire the management company Front Line Management Group, Inc. As part of the deal, Azoff, who was founder and chief executive officer of Front Line, became chief executive officer of Ticketmaster and was named chairman of Live Nation in February 2011.
In September 2013, Azoff unveiled Azoff MSG Entertainment, a venture with The Madison Square Garden Company (MSG). In addition to his role as chairman and CEO of Azoff MSG Entertainment, Azoff would serve as a consultant to MSG in connection with the management of its live event venues, including the Forum in Inglewood, CA and other MSG-managed buildings.
In 2012, he topped Billboard Magazine's Power 100, being named the most powerful person in the music industry. Azoff serves on the boards of iHeartCommunications, Inc. and Starz LLC.
Controversy
60th Grammy Awards
When the 60th Annual Grammy Awards were held in New York City, Azoff informed former MusiCares Executive VP, Dana Tomarken that the MusiCares Person of the Year tribute to Fleetwood Mac would be held at Radio City Music Hall (which is owned by The Madison Square Garden Company) and not at the Barclays Center (which is operated by AEG). Dana Tomarken had been negotiating a deal to have the MusiCares Person of the Year tribute to Fleetwood Mac to be held at the Barclays Center, but Portnow decided to have it at Radio City Music Hall, without consulting Tomarken. Irving Azoff who heads Azoff MSG Entertainment informed her of this change rather than Portnow consulting her first. Tomarken has since made a claim of wrongful termination. This resulted in cost overruns of up to $8 million for the Grammy Awards in 2018. In May 2018, Portnow announced his resignation as President of The Recording Academy. An independent investigation was also launched to look into Tomarken's allegations.
Personal Life
Irving Azoff and his wife, Shelli, have four children - Jaye Azoff, Allison Statter, Jeffrey Azoff, Cameron Azoff.
Labels founded by Azoff
- Full Moon Records
- Giant Records
References
External links
- David Segal: Calling Almost Everyone's Tune
- Irving Azoff on Twitter
Source of article : Wikipedia
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