Toto

Toto biography

Toto is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1976. The group currently consists of Joseph Williams (lead vocals), David Paich (keyboards), Steve Porcaro (keyboards), Steve Lukather (guitars, vocals), Mike Porcaro (bass), and Simon Phillips (drums). Toto is known for a musical style that combines elements of pop, rock, soul, funk, progressive rock, hard rock, R&B and jazz. They are regularly associated with the soft rock genre.

David Paich and Jeff Porcaro had played together as session musicians on several albums and decided to form a band. David Hungate, Steve Lukather, Steve Porcaro and Bobby Kimball were recruited before their first album release. The band enjoyed great commercial success in the late 1970s and 1980s, beginning with the band's self-titled debut released in 1978. With the release of the critically acclaimed and commercially successful Toto IV (1982), Toto became one of the best-selling music groups of their era. They are best known for the Top 5 hits "Hold the Line", "Rosanna", and "Africa". Although their popularity in the United States diminished in the 1990s and 2000s, they remained popular internationally, playing only a small number of shows in the USA. Several changes to the lineup have been made over the years. In 2008, Lukather announced his departure from the band, and the remaining band members later went their separate ways. In the summer of 2010, Toto reformed and went on a short European tour, with a new lineup, to benefit Mike Porcaro, who had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

The band has released a total of 17 albums, and have sold over 35 million albums to date. The group was honored with several Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2009.

Biography

Formation (1976)

thumb The members of Toto were regulars on albums by Steely Dan, Seals and Crofts, Boz Scaggs, Sonny and Cher, and many others, contributing to many of the most popular records of the 1970s. Keyboardist David Paich, son of musician and sessions player/arranger Marty Paich, rose to fame after having co-written much of Scaggs's Silk Degrees album. Having played on many sessions with drummer Jeff Porcaro (the son of noted session percussionist Joe Porcaro), whom he met while attending Grant High School in North Hollywood, California where they formed the band Rural Still Life, the two began to seriously discuss the possibility of forming their own band. They brought in bassist and fellow session vet David Hungate, having played with him on the road with Boz Scaggs. In addition, the duo asked guitarist Steve Lukather (who also played in Scaggs's band as a replacement for Les Dudek) and Jeff Porcaro's brother Steve Porcaro (keyboards) to join the team. Luke and Steve Porcaro were high school classmates, and continued the band Rural Still Life (the name shortened to Still Life) after Paich and Jeff graduated. With the addition of former S.S. Fools singer Bobby Kimball, the group began to work on their first album in 1977 after signing with Columbia Records.

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