ToTo

Toto shaped the polished, refined sonic identity associated with Southern California during the closing years of the 1970s and the opening years of the 1980s. Equating that achievement with an exclusive focus on soft rock would be inaccurate, even though the group supplied numerous adult-contemporary touchstones both under its own name and through sideman work alongside Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs, George Benson, and Michael Jackson. Longtime participants in elite Los Angeles recording facilities, guitarist Steve Lukather, keyboardists David Paich and Steve Porcaro, drummer Jeff Porcaro, and bassist David Hungate possessed the facility to tackle any style from soul to hard rock, and they exercised that range across the band’s initial releases. Immediate commercial success arrived in 1978 when “Hold the Line” surged to number five, yet the group’s defining moment came with the 1982 album Toto IV, a meticulously crafted set of pop/rock tracks that yielded three Billboard Top Ten singles—“Rosanna,” “Africa,” and “I Won’t Hold You Back”—while collecting five Grammy Awards. The massive scale of Toto IV placed the band permanently in its shadow, yet Toto continued for four decades, absorbing repeated lineup shifts and one prolonged break while remaining active in studios and on tour, sustaining a dedicated audience as its classic recordings, especially “Africa,” reached successive waves of listeners.

Before the ensemble coalesced in 1976, most of its future members already operated as insiders within the Los Angeles music industry. A few had entered that world through family connections. David Paich was the son of noted arranger Marty Paich, whose credits included Ray Charles’ landmark 1962 album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. Jeff Porcaro’s father performed on several Lalo Schifrin soundtracks and participated in sessions for Nancy Sinatra and the Monkees. David Paich and Jeff Porcaro first collaborated as students at Van Nuys’ Grant High School in the band Rural Still Life. After leaving school, both became session players, contributing to albums by Steely Dan, Cher, and Seals & Crofts, among countless others. Paich ultimately co-wrote more than half the tracks on Boz Scaggs’ 1976 breakthrough Silk Degrees, including the hits “Lowdown” and “Lido Shuffle,” elevating his profile with record companies. He and Porcaro, who also appeared on Silk Degrees, resolved to form Toto, enlisting bassist David Hungate from Scaggs’ group, keyboardist Steve Porcaro (Jeff’s brother), and guitarist Steve Lukather (another Scaggs alumnus). Singer Bobby Kimball completed the roster, and Columbia signed the band in 1976.

Issued in October 1978, the self-titled debut quickly achieved commercial traction when its opening single, “Hold the Line,” advanced to number five on Billboard’s Hot 100. The album itself entered the Top Ten, reaching nine, and earned gold certification before the close of 1978, followed by platinum status in January. In 1979 Toto received two Grammy nominations: Best New Artist (awarded instead to the disco act A Taste of Honey) and Producer of the Year (which the group won). Hydra arrived the following October but climbed only to number 37, with its single “99” stopping at 26; the album nonetheless received gold certification in March 1980. The more aggressive Turn Back surfaced in 1981, yet it peaked at 41 on the Top 200 and produced no charting singles.

Positioned as a decisive release, 1982’s Toto IV fulfilled that expectation. Conceived as a flawlessly executed mainstream pop statement, the album became the commercial juggernaut its creators intended, ascending to number four on the Billboard chart, attaining three platinum certifications (two during its initial run, the third in 1991), and securing five Grammy Awards, among them Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year. Those song honors went to “Rosanna,” the album’s lead single, which climbed to number two; the follow-up, “Africa,” proved even larger, attaining number one in early 1983. A final single, “I Won’t Hold You Back,” reached number ten later that year, coinciding with the chart run of “Human Nature,” the Michael Jackson hit co-written with Steve Porcaro. “Human Nature” originated on Thriller, Jackson’s 1982 blockbuster that also featured both Porcaro brothers, Steve Lukather, and David Paich, allowing Toto to appear on the charts simultaneously as a performing unit and as session contributors.

Despite occupying the height of its visibility, internal strains began to surface. David Hungate departed after Toto IV, moving to Nashville to concentrate on session and production work; Michael Porcaro, Jeff and Steve’s brother, took his place. Bobby Kimball was dismissed in 1984 following the resolution of drug-related charges stemming from 1981, charges he had contested through most of 1983. The band regrouped by scoring David Lynch’s film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune and, by the time that soundtrack appeared in December 1984, had completed Isolation. Recorded with new vocalist Fergie Frederiksen (formerly of Trillion and Le Roux), the arena-rock-oriented Isolation attracted a narrower audience than its predecessor, peaking at 42 on the Billboard Top 200, achieving gold status in February 1985, and producing the single “Stranger in Town,” which reached 30. Frederiksen was let go once the Isolation tour concluded.

Joseph Williams joined as lead singer, and Toto swiftly completed Fahrenheit, an album that revisited the pop orientation of Toto IV while incorporating a guest appearance by Miles Davis. Released in August 1986, it reached 40 on the Top 200 and yielded the number-11 single “I’ll Be Over You,” which featured backing vocals from Michael McDonald. Steve Porcaro exited after the supporting tour. He participated in select dates during the 1988 cycle for The Seventh One, the final Toto album to place a single inside the Top 40: “Pamela,” which peaked at 22.

After that cycle ended, further instability followed. Joseph Williams departed and was succeeded by Jean-Michel Byron, whose tenure proved brief; he recorded new material for the 1990 compilation Past to Present 1977-1990 before being dismissed after its tour. Steve Lukather assumed lead vocals for Kingdom of Desire, issued in Europe in 1992 and the United States in 1993. Prior to that album’s first release, Jeff Porcaro suffered a fatal heart attack while gardening at home on August 5, 1992. Simon Phillips, who had performed with Lukather on a 1986 tour alongside Jeff Beck and Carlos Santana, replaced the founding drummer. The revised lineup appeared on the 1993 live album Absolutely Live, captured two months after Porcaro’s death, and released its first studio recording, Tambu, in 1996.

Marking their twentieth anniversary, Toto issued Toto XX in 1998, a set of rarities, outtakes, and demos. Original vocalist Bobby Kimball rejoined that year, and the band delivered Mindfields in March 1999, touring under a reunion banner documented on the 1999 album Livefields. Through the Looking Glass, a collection of cover songs, arrived in 2002, followed by a twenty-fifth-anniversary tour preserved on the 2003 release Live in Amsterdam.

Subsequent years brought further personnel adjustments. David Paich missed multiple concerts between 2003 and 2005; Greg Phillinganes served as his substitute and, by 2005, became the full-time touring keyboardist while Paich continued studio participation. Falling in Between, the first collection of original material since Mindfields, appeared in 2006. On the accompanying tour, bassist Mike Porcaro sat out the 2007 dates; Leland Sklar filled in and is featured on the 2007 live album Falling in Between Live. On June 5, 2008, Steve Lukather posted on his website that “there is no more Toto,” yet the group merely entered a two-year hiatus rather than disbanding permanently. In February 2010 the members reconvened for benefit concerts supporting Mike Porcaro, recently diagnosed with ALS. Nathan East assumed Mike’s position, and Joseph Williams returned as lead singer. The 2010 dates proved successful, prompting additional tours in 2011 and 2012. A thirty-fifth-anniversary tour took place in 2013; Simon Phillips exited in January 2014 and was replaced by Keith Carlock, previously associated with Steely Dan, John Mayer, and Sting. Nathan East soon departed as well, with original bassist David Hungate returning.

Toto XIV, featuring Hungate on several tracks and Paich on all, was released in March 2015. Shortly before its appearance, Mike Porcaro died from complications related to ALS. The band toured throughout 2015, including co-headlining dates with Yes. By then Carlock had left; Shannon Forrest took over on drums. Toto also added percussionist Lenny Castro, an ’80s veteran, to its 2015 touring configuration. Hungate departed once more and was replaced by Leland Sklar, whose stint proved short-lived; Shem von Schroeck succeeded him in 2017.

Planning a fortieth-anniversary observance for 2018, Toto issued the compilation 40 Trips Around the Sun and scheduled a supporting tour. During that year the band experienced renewed attention when its 1982 number-one single “Africa” resurfaced as a viral phenomenon among younger listeners. Popularity extended into the mainstream after Weezer recorded a version at the urging of a fourteen-year-old fan on Twitter; Weezer’s “Africa” reached number one on Billboard’s alternative-rock chart and number 54 on the Hot 100. In response, Toto recorded its own rendition of Weezer’s “Hash Pipe.” A refreshed touring lineup that included John Pierce, Steve Maggiora, and Robert “Sput” Searight made its debut with a livestreamed Los Angeles concert later issued to the public on 2021’s With a Little Help from My Friends.