Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists to Manage Dean Martin’s Legacy in Wide-Ranging Deal
The agreement encompasses Martin's name, image and likeness along with a range of rights from his career, including his sound recordings.
Irving Azoff‘s latest signing to his Iconic Artists Group is “The King of Cool,” Dean Martin.
On Wednesday (Dec. 7) Iconic Artists Group announced a new agreement with The Dean Martin Family Trust to “manage, develop and expand” the legendary singer and actor’s legacy to new generations. The deal encompasses Dean Martin‘s name, image and likeness along with a range of rights from his career, including the trust’s interest in his self-titled variety shows and specials, the Dean Martin Celebrity Roast series, feature films and sound recordings from his time with Capitol and Reprise Records.
Over the course of his career, Martin, who died in 1995, sold over 50 million albums worldwide and appeared in 85 films and numerous TV shows, according to Iconic Artists Group’s press release.
Martin scored top 10 singles on Billboard’s charts such as “That’s Amore” (1953), “Memories Are Made of This” (1955, No. 1 on Best Sellers in Stores), “Return to Me” (1958), “Everybody Loves Somebody” (1964, No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts), “The Door Is Still Open To My Heart” (1964, No. 1 Adult Contemporary), “You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You” (1965, No. 1 Adult Contemporary), “I Will” (1965), “In the Chapel in the Moonlight” (1967, No. 1 Adult Contemporary) and “In the Misty Moonlight” (1968, No. 1 Adult Contemporary).
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He’s also notched three top 40-charting albums in the last 20 years on the Billboard 200 — Dino: The Essential Dean Martin, Forever Cool and The Dean Martin Christmas Album. His holiday recordings are popular each season, and in January 2021, he logged his first top 10 hit on the Hot 100 since 1965 with “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow.”
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Martin rose to fame alongside Jerry Lewis, with whom he had a massively popular show at the 500 Club in Atlantic City, New Jersey beginning in 1946. The live show launched them as an in-demand duo, and they went on to team up for a total of 16 feature films and a string of appearances on The Colgate Comedy Hour.
After splitting professionally with Lewis, Martin went on to host the hugely successful Dean Martin Show from 1965-74, for which he received two Emmy nominations for outstanding variety series. That was followed by The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast, a series of 54 specials that aired from 1974 to 1984.
Martin was posthumously honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009.
“Dean Martin was America in film, recordings, nightclubs, comedy & TV,” said Azoff in a statement. “He was the epitome of coolness. It is both an honor and privilege to welcome this cherished American talent to our Iconic family.”
Martin’s long-time business manager and trustee of The Dean Martin Family Trust, Laura Lizer, added, “Dean Martin’s work and cultural influence across so many media platforms, including music, television, movies, radio, and live performances, makes his diverse catalog and legacy one of the most unique assets in entertainment history. Aligning the Dean Martin Family Trust with Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group secures Dean’s legacy for generations to come.”
Founded in January 2020, Iconic Artists Group has made several attention-getting deals over the last couple of years. In January 2020, the company purchased a controlling interest in The Beach Boys‘ music catalog, including sound recordings, select musical compositions, brand and memorabilia. The company also signed a partnership with the family of Nat King Cole to sell asset rights from his estate, acquired Linda Ronstadt‘s recorded music assets and purchased the catalogs of former Crosby, Stills & Nash bandmates David Crosby and Stephen Stills in separate deals.
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