Graham Nash Sells Catalog to Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group
Graham Nash has sold a “range of assets” to Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group, stretching all the way back to his work in the Hollies through his years in CSN/CSNY and his long solo career.
“I am thrilled to welcome Graham Nash to the iconic family, which now represents the works of all three of Crosby, Stills, and Nash,” Azoff said in a statement. “Graham is not only an incredible talent and true gentleman but a longtime friend as well. Back when I struck out on my own and started my first management company, Graham visited my office and came up with the name, ‘Front Line Management.’”
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Adds Nash: “I’m looking forward to working with the Iconic team on various projects to further the legacy of CSN’s music and my own.”
Nash joins a long list of artist (or their estates) that have sold their assets to Iconic Artists Group, including the Beach Boys, Cher, Joe Cocker, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, and Linda Ronstadt. Azoff has also made deals with David Crosby and Stephen Stills, meaning that the catalog of CSN is back under the same umbrella. Young, meanwhile, sold 50% of his catalog to Merck Mercuriadis’ Hipgnosis Songs Fund in 2021. (A deal was made where Young’s music won’t be used in advertisements.)
Crosby, Stills, and Nash split up in 2015 after a nearly five-decade run. Crosby poured all of his time and energy into his solo career in the years that followed and was on the verge of launching a brief tour when he died suddenly in January. Stills is largely retired despite playing the occasional charity show. “The idea of touring absolutely appalls me,” he told Rolling Stone in February. “I can’t imagine being on the bus for 14 hours. You can’t take drugs anymore. It’s no longer fun.”
Nash, meanwhile, continues to tour with a set focused largely on hits by CSN, CSNY, and the Hollies. He’s the only member of the quartet keeping their music alive on the road. Earlier this year, he released Now, his first collection of new songs since 2016’s This Path Tonight.
Nash and Crosby weren’t on speaking terms after CSN’s implosion but were on the verge of patching things up when Crosby died. “The fact is that we were getting a little closer at the end,” Nash told AARP earlier this year. “He had sent me a voicemail saying that he wanted to talk to apologize, and could we set up a time to talk. I emailed him back and said, ‘Okay, call me at eleven o’clock tomorrow your time, which is two o’clock on the East Coast.’ He never called, and then he was gone.”
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