It says something about Irving Azoff’s sense of humor — not to mention his legendary sense of self — that when the veteran music industry executive started a label of his own in 1990, he called it Giant Records. Azoff, who stands at approximately 5 feet, 2 inches, is best known as a hard-driving talent manager; among the many acts he’s steered toward rock and pop superstardom are Jimmy Buffett, Stevie Nicks, Steely Dan, Bon Jovi and Christina Aguilera.
” Yet the dealmaker nicknamed Swirv has done plenty else in both live and recorded music in the half-century since he came to California from his native Illinois, including running a major label, MCA; serving as chief executive of Ticketmaster and chairman of Live Nation; restoring Inglewood’s Forum and helping to open Palm Springs’ Acrisure Arena and the much-ballyhooed Sphere in Las Vegas; and founding Iconic Artists Group, which oversees — and seeks to monetize — the storied legacies of...