Sergey Igorevich Stepanov (, ; , ; born 3 September 1984), also known as the Epic Sax Guy, Saxroll or Ultra Sax Guy, is a

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

n musician and composer and a member of the

SunStroke Project The SunStroke Project is a Moldovan musical group composed of Sergei Yalovitsky (vocals, composer), Sergey Stepanov (musician), Sergey Stepanov (saxophonist), and previously Anton Ragoza (violinist, composer) until his departure in 2019. They ach ...

Biography

Stepanov born in

Tiraspol Tiraspol (, ; also /; , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Transnistria, a breakaway state of Moldova, where it is the third-largest city. The city is located on the eastern bank of the Dniester River. Tiraspol is a regional hub of cul ...

Moldavian SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic or Moldavian SSR (, mo-Cyrl, Република Советикэ Сочиалистэ Молдовеняскэ), also known as the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldovan SSR, Soviet Moldavia, Sovie ...

, now

Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a landlocked breakaway state internationally recognized as part of Moldova. It controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dni ...

, into a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

family. Sergey graduated in 2005 from Transnistrian State Arts Institute of

. After graduation he was drafted into the Transnistrian army, where he met

Anton Ragoza Anton Ragoza (; ; born 6 January 1986), is a Moldovan musician and composer and a former member of the SunStroke Project. He founded the Carnival Brain project in 2019. Biography Ragoza graduated in 2005 from Transnistrian State Arts Institute ...

. Later they formed Sunstroke band, now known as

. Sergey is married to Olga Deleu, and they have a son, Mikhail. 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 (Alexander Rybak song), Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak. Organise ...

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) 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 of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, where

finished 22nd, with their song " Run Away". After the contest, Stepanov, thanks to his extravagant look and dancing style, quickly became an

Internet meme An Internet meme, or meme (, Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''MEEM''), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the Internet, primarily through Social media, social media platforms. Internet memes manif ...

named "Epic Sax Guy" through a

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

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! "Hey Mamma" (also "Hey, Mamma!") is a song written and performed by the Moldovan group SunStroke Project. It was released as a digital download on 6 February 2017 by Ragoza Music. It Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, represented Moldo ...

", 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 Igor Dodon (; born 18 February 1975) is a Moldovan politician who served as the 5th president of Moldova from 2016 to 2020. He currently serves as the leader of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova since 2024. He served as Ministry ...

. 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 (song), Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. The Netherlands was se ...

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

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stepanov, Sergey 1984 births Living people People from Tiraspol Moldovan musicians Moldovan composers Male composers 21st-century saxophonists Internet memes introduced in 2010 Eurovision Song Contest entrants