# 6 Steve Azar

Steve Azar, a Mississippi delta native, is a hit songwriter-recording artist, music producer, music industry consultant, keynote speaker, podcast/radio show host, record label founder and best-selling author. Azar has had nine charted singles on Billboard Hot Country Songs and has released seven critically acclaimed studio albums. The title track from Azar's debut album Waitin’ On Joe went to #1 on CMT and featured Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman. From the same album the smash hit single “I Don’t Have To Be Me (‘til Monday)”, also a #1 video, is the 4X recipient of the prestigious BMI Million-Air radio awards for reaching over 4 million in air plays and is one of the top five most played songs since 2000 on country radio. Azar was personally chosen by Bob Seger for his 2006-2007 Face the Promise Tour which was rated #1 Tour in America by Pollstar Magazine.

Azar’s Slide on Over Here album and its hit single “Sunshine” (also a #1 video) were featured in the 2011 “Oprah’s Favorite Things” edition of O Magazine. The Steve Azar & The Kings Men album titled Down at The Liquor Store was the first studio album ever to be recorded at the historic Club Ebony in Indianola, Mississippi. Steve is joined is by veteran bandmates of B.B. King, Elvis Presley, and other icons of music on this album with a feature documentary, Something in the Water, chronicling the making of the record. His latest musical project, My Mississippi Reunion, winner of the 2021 Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters award for best contemporary album, features a collection of past and new songs inspired by Azar’s roots including the song “One Mississippi” which became the new official state song of Mississippi in 2022. Steve has been honored with “Steve Azar Day” in the states of Mississippi (March 13th) and South Dakota (August 10th).

An accomplished songwriter, Azar has had songs recorded by Reba McEntire, Danny Gokey, James House and Cedric Burnside among many others. He has written and recorded songs for major motion films. “Doin’ It Right” (Delta Mix) off the album Delta Soul Volume One, was the feature track for Sony Pictures movie Here Comes the Boom. “Fly” the official song for the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships was also the feature track for Sony Pictures Paul Blart Mall Cop 2.

 Azar is the author of the # 1 Best Selling children's book "One Mississippi". He was enshrined on the Mississippi Country Music Trail as the trail’s 32nd marker in 2019. He is the recipient of the 2018 prestigious Mississippi Arts Commission “Governor's Choice Award” was named to the 2019 class of Mississippi Top 50 in the Business, Media and Culture category and received the 2023 Mississippi Music Awards Lifetime Achievement award. In April 2024, Azar was featured in the Grammy Museum Mississippi exhibit “Celebrating Mississippi’s Influence”, alongside Marty Stewart, Faith Hill, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bobby, Rush, Charley Pride, Mary Wilson of the Supremes and Leontine Price. Azar is a featured artist with his song "Our Castle is Your Home" on the Grammy nominated Rock for Children, Vol 1 album also featuring legendary artists Alice Cooper, Judas Priest's Rob Halford, Steve Cropper, Slash, DMC and more.

 Steve and his wife Gwen founded the Steve Azar St. Cecilia Foundation, which annually produces the Delta Soul Celebrity Golf & Charity Event. Since its inception, the foundation has channeled over millions of dollars to many worthwhile causes in the Delta and beyond. An accomplished golfer, Steve has been ranked one of the top five musicians that play golf by Golf Digest Magazine numerous times, and he is a frequent guest at charity golf tournaments across the country.

 Azar is the official Music & Culture Ambassador of Mississippi and is an in-demand keynote speaker. He hosts his own radio show and podcast titled In a Mississippi Minute with Steve Azar, available on SuperTalk Mississippi radio and all podcast platforms. Steve enjoys being the artist in residence at the Delta Music Institute, part of Delta State University. He serves as brand ambassador for the award- winning Dancing Rabbit Golf courses and Pearl River Resort in the rolling hills of Choctaw, Mississippi as well as Mississippi based food company Sherin Foods. In 2024, Steve launched the I Don't Have to Be Me ‘til Monday Bloody Mary Mix, his own signature blend, appropriately named after his weekend anthem.

 "Steve Azar's Mississippi", Azar's resident show in his hometown of Greenville, is Viking Cruise line's number one rated show and event on the Mississippi River.