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. 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==