Sergey Igorevich Stepanov (russian: Серге́й И́горевич Степа́нов, ; ro, Serghei Stepanov, ; born 3 September 1984 in

Tiraspol Tiraspol or Tirișpolea ( ro, Tiraspol, Moldovan Cyrillic: Тираспол, ; russian: Тира́споль, ; uk, Тирасполь, Tyraspol') is the capital of Transnistria (''de facto''), a breakaway state of Moldova, where it is the th ...

), commonly known as the Epic Sax Guy, Saxroll or Ultra Sax Guy, is a Moldovan musician and composer and a member of the SunStroke Project.

Biography

Stepanov graduated in 2005 from Transnistrian State Arts Institute of

. After graduation he was drafted into the Transnistrian army, where he met Anton Ragoza. Later they formed Sunstroke band, now known as SunStroke Project. Stepanov is dubbed ' Epic Sax Guy' by many on the internet.

SunStroke Project

As a member of SunStroke Project, Sergey participated at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2010 The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the 55th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Oslo, Norway, following the country's victory at the with the song " Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak. Organised by the European Broadcasting U ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

, where SunStroke Project finished 22nd, with their song " Run Away". After the contest, Stepanov, thanks to his extravagant look and dancing style, quickly became an Internet meme named "Epic Sax Guy" through a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

video with Sergey's instrumental solo performance during the group's Eurovision performance. It quickly went viral and spawned a number of remix videos, including a ten-hour long remixed version. In 2014, Stepanov's 2010 performance was included in the Eurovision Book of Records, a collection of the most memorable moments in the history of the contest. In 2017, SunStroke Project returned to Eurovision with the song " Hey, Mamma!", and this time finished 3rd. Many notable publications around the world wrote about the comeback of the "Epic Sax Guy", and on the Internet new videos and remixes with Stepanov's performance appeared, this time known as "Ultra Sax Guy". On returning to Moldova, SunStroke Project were awarded the Order of Honour by then-President of Moldova Igor Dodon. During the

Eurovision Song Contest 2021 The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 was the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's win at the with the song " Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. The Netherlands was set to host the ...

final, Stepanov was the spokesperson for the Moldovan jury votes.

Personal life

Sergey is married to Olga Deleu, and they have a son, Mikhail.

Honours

* Order of Honour (2017)

Notes

References

External links

Биография на сайте группы
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stepanov, Sergey 1984 births Living people People from Tiraspol Moldovan musicians Moldovan composers Male composers Russian composers Russian male composers Saxophonists Internet memes 21st-century saxophonists Moldovan people of Russian descent 21st-century Russian male musicians Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2010 Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2017 Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Moldova Internet memes introduced in 2010