Steve Aoki

Aoki was born in Miami, Florida, and grew up in Newport Beach, California. He is the son of Japanese parents, Chizuru Kobayashi and Rocky Aoki, the former wrestler and founder of the Benihana restaurant chain. His mother moved the family to California after divorcing his father. Aoki has two older full siblings, sister Kana Grace and brother Kevin, as well as three half-siblings, including fashion model and actress Devon Aoki. The model and singer Yumi Nu is his niece.

Aoki became engaged to Australian model Tiernan Cowling in 2010, and the two married on the island of Maui in 2015. The couple lived in Nevada and separated amicably in 2018 due to the strains of his extensive touring schedule. In July 2024, Aoki married Sasha Sofine in Montenegro. The couple later welcomed their first child in July 2025.

Outside of music, Aoki has expressed strong interests in longevity, technology, and health science. He is signed up for cryopreservation and was originally selected in 2022 to participate in a lunar spaceflight mission as part of the dearMoon project, which was later canceled in 2024.

During his youth in Newport Beach, Aoki attended Newport Harbor High School, where he competed on the varsity badminton team, graduating in 1995. He then enrolled at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he earned two Bachelor of Arts degrees, one in sociology and the other in women's studies. While in college, he became active in campus activism, founding a chapter of the Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League.

Aoki immersed himself in the local music scene by running underground concerts and producing DIY records from his Isla Vista living space in the Santa Barbara Student Housing Cooperative, a venue nicknamed The Pickle Patch. In 1996, at the age of nineteen, he launched his own record label, Dim Mak Records, named in tribute to his childhood hero Bruce Lee. The label grew from an underground punk and electro imprint into an influential dance music powerhouse, releasing music by acts such as Bloc Party, The Kills, Klaxons, MSTRKRFT, and The Bloody Beetroots.

In the late 2000s, Aoki established himself as a prominent remixer and club DJ, creating official remixes for Drake, Kid Cudi, and The Jackson 5. In 2010, he released the hit single "I'm in the House" featuring Zuper Blahq, the alter-ego of Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am. The track achieved commercial success in the United Kingdom, entering the top five of both the UK Dance and UK Indie charts.

Aoki released his debut solo studio album, Wonderland, in January 2012. The record featured an eclectic lineup of guest collaborators, including LMFAO, Kid Cudi, Travis Barker, Rivers Cuomo, Wynter Gordon, and Lil Jon. Wonderland earned Aoki his first Grammy Award nomination for Best Dance/Electronica Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. That same year, industry publication Pollstar identified him as the highest-grossing dance music touring artist in North America.

In September 2014, Aoki released Neon Future I, the first installment of a multi-part conceptual album series exploring futuristic technology and human evolution. The album reached number one on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart and produced popular tracks such as "Delirious (Boneless)". Its companion record, Neon Future II, arrived in May 2015, featuring collaborations with Linkin Park and Snoop Lion. The making of this double album was chronicled in the 2016 documentary film I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, which explored Aoki's career, work ethic, and complex relationship with his father.

Aoki continued the series with Neon Future III in 2018, featuring the BTS collaboration "Waste It on Me", and Neon Future IV in 2020. Across these records and standalone projects such as the 2017 hip-hop-focused album Steve Aoki Presents Kolony, he maintained a reputation for unexpected genre mashups, partnering with artists ranging from Backstreet Boys and Lauren Jauregui to Fall Out Boy and Blink-182.

In 2022, Aoki launched a new story-driven album series with Hiroquest: Genesis, followed by Hiroquest 2: Double Helix in 2023 and Hiroquest 3: Paragon. These projects incorporated elements of rock, pop-punk, and Latin dance music, featuring guest appearances by artists including Taking Back Sunday, Mod Sun, Paris Hilton, and Akon.

Aoki's reputation as a live performer rests on an intense touring pace that often surpasses 200 shows annually, complete with stage antics such as launching large sheet cakes into the faces of audience members and riding inflatable rafts across crowds. Beyond the stage, he established the Steve Aoki Charitable Fund, an organization that raises money for global disaster relief, animal rights, and neurological research focused on brain preservation and regenerative medicine.