Irving Azoff

Early life

Azoff was born into a Jewish family, and raised in Danville, Illinois. He began working with bands while still a student at Danville High School and then in college at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.

Career

His first management client was Champaign-based REO Speedwagon; his second was Dan Fogelberg. In 1972, Azoff moved to Los Angeles with Fogelberg, where he worked for Geffen-Roberts Management. There he began working with the Eagles, forming a relationship that has lasted more than forty years.

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.

In October 2008, Ticketmaster announced it 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 2013, Azoff founded the performance rights organisation Global Music Rights. The company administered publishing for artists including Metallica, Bruce Springsteen, John Lennon and George Harrison, Pearl Jam, and Bruno Mars. Later that year, 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 be 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 2015, Azoff played a character based on himself in the Documentary Now! parody of History of the Eagles. The same year, Azoff co-founded Oak View Group with Tim Leiweke. The company is building the Belmont Park Arena as well as a new arena in Milan, Italy. Oak View Group is also part owner of problem hit Co-op Live arena in Manchester, together with City Football Group and musician Harry Styles.

Azoff and Oliver Chastan co-founded Iconic Artists Group in 2018, an entertainment rights management company. In 2021, Iconic Artists Group acquired the catalogue of David Crosby and a majority stake in the Beach Boys' intellectual property. In February 2024, the company acquired the catalogue of British singer Rod Stewart for close to $100 million.

In 2019, Azoff and his wife Shelli, along with a consortium of Los Angeles-based investors, purchased The Apple Pan, one of Los Angeles' oldest continuing operating restaurants, as well as Nate n' Al, founded in 1945. The following January, Azoff was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an Ahmet Ertegun Award winner.

Azoff has co-produced the movies Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Urban Cowboy, Jack Frost, 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 2025, Azoff assembled 27 artists in order to run a so-called 'FireAid' concert for the victims of the January 2025 Southern California wildfires. In an interview with TheWrap about the concert, Azoff claimed that he hadn't slept for two weeks preparing for the event; he also said that its audience would "understand how bad this has been and have compassion for the people and start the healing process". Since the concert, there has been multiple inquiries to how the FireAid concert funds were distributed, with multiple sources reporting that none of the funds had reached victims of the fires and were instead distributed to different local charities.

Controversy

Housekeeper lawsuit

In 2023, a former housekeeper named Rosa Martinez sued Irving and his wife for back wages and wrongful termination. They were also accused of various abuses including burning the housekeeper with cigarettes, making her clean dirty sex toys and for firing her because she needed a hysterectomy.

Monopolization claims

In 2018, the Radio Music License Committee made anti-trust claims against Azoff's Global Music Rights, LLC, a performance rights organization. A settlement was reached in 2022.

Clippers arena proposal

Azoff MSG Entertainment took part in a lawsuit against the city of Inglewood to stop the construction of a new arena for the Los Angeles Clippers in Inglewood alongside residents of the local neighbourhood. During the summer of 2019, it was reported that Azoff was working with James L. Dolan of the Madison Square Garden Company to prevent the competing arena from being built similar to the tactics used to stop the construction of the proposed West Side Stadium in New York City in 2005. In March 2019, leaked emails revealed that Azoff attempted to lure the Los Angeles Lakers back to The Forum after their lease at the Staples Center was up.

Nicki Minaj

In 2018, Nicki Minaj accused Azoff of orchestrating a smear campaign against her upcoming tour; however, he later became her manager. Additionally, his performance rights organization Global Music Rights manages most of her song writing credits.

The Black Keys

In 2024, American rock duo the Black Keys canceled their tour and fired Azoff as their manager after they had to cancel their US tour due to low ticket sales. In response to the claim by a representative of Azoff that the split was an 'amicable parting', drummer Patrick Carney said, "I mean, we fired their ass. Shit happens."

Personal life

In 1978, he married Rochelle "Shelli" Cumsky. They have four children, and the eldest son, Jeffrey Azoff, is a partner in Full Stop Management.

References

References

1. (August 11, 2016). "The New Pioneers: Irving Azoff on His Plan to Deal With the 'StubHub Factor' -- 'You Have Lots of People Escaping With Lots of Money'".
2. (2013-01-01). "Live Nation Chairman Azoff Said to Exit Concert Company". Bloomberg.
3. (27 January 2012). "Billboard Reveals the 2012 Power 100 {{!}} Billboard.biz".
4. Gensler, Andy. (2014-09-23). "Houses of the Holy: Where the Music Biz Celebrates the Jewish High Holidays".
5. "A TASTE OF RAINMAKERS:IRVING AZOFF".
6. E. Scott Reckard, [https://apnews.com/e82076d0d7ee78a6b2b13d06eaaa30c5 "AZOFF QUITS AS CHAIRMAN OF MCA'S MUSIC UNIT"], AP News Archive, September 5, 1989.
7. See generally Tom King, ''The Operator: David Geffen Builds, Buys, and Sells the New Hollywood'', p. 449-450, Broadway Books (New York 2001).
8. (2018). "Siren Song: My Life in Music". St. Martin's Publishing.
9. (October 29, 2014). "New Venture Seeks Higher Royalties for Songwriters". The New York Times.
10. Ray Waddell, Nashville and Andrew Flanagan, New York, [http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/digital-and-mobile/5680140/irving-azoff-and-madison-square-garden-co-announce-300 "Irving Azoff and Madison Square Garden Co. Announce $300 Million Joint Venture"], ''Billboard'', September 4, 2013.
11. [http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2013/09/04/571465/10047296/en/The-Madison-Square-Garden-Company-and-Azoff-Music-Management-Join-Forces-to-Create-a-Powerful-Broad-Based-Entertainment-Company-to-Develop-Current-and-Future-Opportunities-in-the-M.html "Irving Azoff to Serve as Chairman and CEO of Azoff MSG Entertainment LLC"], ''GlobeNewswire'', September 4, 2013.
12. Penrose, Nerisha. (September 14, 2016). "Fred Armisen & Bill Hader Explain How 'Documentary Now!' Cast Irving Azoff & His Son in Eagles Spoof".
13. "Oak View Group Taps Milan for First Arena Outside U.S".
14. (March 3, 2021). "David Crosby sells catalog to Irving Azoff's Iconic Artists Group, including recorded music and publishing rights".
15. Geraghty, Hollie. (2024-02-16). "Rod Stewart sells back catalogue for near $100million".
16. "Rod Stewart Reportedly Sells Rights to His Song Catalog for Nearly $100 Million".
17. Kang, Matthew. (February 11, 2019). "The Apple Pan has new owners for the first time in decades".
18. (2020-03-29). "Nate 'n Al's, beloved delicatessen of Beverly Hills, to close for now".
19. France, Lisa Respers. (January 15, 2020). "The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2020 inductees are...".
20. [http://www.moviefone.com/celebrity/irving-azoff/1915241/main5] {{Dead link. (July 2018)
21. Patton, Tess. (2025-01-29). "Music Mogul Irving Azoff on Organizing FireAid Benefit Concert: 'I Haven't Slept in 2 Weeks'".
22. King, Ashley. (2025-09-15). "FireAid Update: California Congressman Kiley Receives Financials".
23. (2025-09-10). "Fire victims baffled at how $100M in charity concert money was spent: 'It's a s--tshow.'". New York Post.
24. Staff, Radar. (2023-02-01). "Music Exec Irving Azoff & His Wife Sued By Ex-Housekeeper Who Claims She Was Burned With A Cigarette And Forced To Clean Adult Toy After Complaining About Pay".
25. Gardner, Eriq. (July 12, 2019). "Hollywood Docket: Music Industry Antitrust; Video Game Humvees; Paul Haggis DNA".
26. Sanchez, Daniel. (August 16, 2018). "Irving Azoff's GMR Faces a Serious Setback Against U.S. Radio Stations".
27. Cho, Winston. (2022-01-08). "Irving Azoff Group Strikes Deal With Radio Stations to End Legal Battle Over Performance Rights".
28. "Inglewood Mayor Butts Slams Azoff MSG Entertainment Lawsuit".
29. (July 17, 2019). "James Dolan and MSG are waging a war on Inglewood over new Clippers arena project".
30. (March 14, 2019). "Must Reads: Lakers explored leaving Staples Center for return to Forum, emails reveal".
31. Aswad, Jem. (August 24, 2018). "Nicki Minaj Accuses Travis Scott Manager Irving Azoff of 'Smear Campaign' Against Her Tour".
32. (June 24, 2019). "Irving Azoff Assures Nicki Minaj That Travis Scott Doesn't Hate Her: 'It's All Show Biz'".
33. Newman, Jason. (2025-02-07). "The Black Keys are finally ready to talk about it all".
34. Vlessing, Etan. (2025-02-06). "The Black Keys Open Up About Tour Cancellation, Management Split: 'We Fired Their A**'".
35. "Rolling Stone #267 : Irving Azoff".
36. (November 5, 2020). "'He's our Satan': Mega music manager Irving Azoff, still feared, still fighting". Los Angeles Times.