Award-winning songwriter and performer Steve Azar serves as Artist-in-Residence at the Delta Music Institute. Azar, who penned the hit song, “I Don’t Have To Be Me ‘Til Monday,’ is a Greenville, MS native, and graduated from Delta State University with a degree in Business Administration. He went on to develop a successful career in the music industry as a singer, songwriter, producer, and publisher.
As a writer, his hits include, “Waitin’ On Joe,” “Sunshine,” and “Big Blue Sky.” His biggest hit, “I Don’t Have To Be Me ‘Til Monday,” was honored by BMI with the “Million- Air” Award. It has received almost 3 million spins on the radio since release, and has a total audience of almost two billion. Azar was personally chosen by Bob Seger to open his 2007 U.S. tour, which was ranked by Pollstar Magazine the #1 tour in America that year. Steve also narrated and provided soundtrack music for Second Crossing: Mississippi’s Landmark Bridge, a Mississippi PBS documentary about a key rebuilding effort for the Mississippi Delta region following Hurricane Katrina. Azar’s contributions to his Delta State residency include master classes, student mentoring, recruiting efforts, performances, and promotional appearances.
In October 2020, Azar released a compilation exclusive vinyl, CD and digital release titled My Mississippi Reunion featuring a collection of new and remastered songs, all about home. The album is the winner of the 2021 Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters award for best contemporary album. In March 2022, legislature passed a bill to make “One Mississippi” the official state song and in April 2022 Governor Tate Reeves signed the bill into law.
For more information on Steve Azar, visit his website
