Toto

About Toto

Toto is what happens when the best session musicians in Los Angeles decide to stop playing on everyone else's hits and make their own. The band formed in 1977, built around the Porcaro brothers—drummer Jeff, keyboardist Steve, and bassist Mike—along with David Paich on keys, Steve Lukather on guitar, and vocalist Bobby Kimball. These weren't kids in a garage. They were already the guys you heard on records by Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs, and Seals & Crofts.

Their self-titled debut in 1978 did respectably, but it was 1982's "Toto IV" that made them unavoidable. "Rosanna" got constant radio play with its shuffling groove and session-perfect musicianship. Then came "Africa," a song that somehow combined marimba patterns, layered synths, and lyrics about a continent the writers had never visited into something that refused to leave the collective consciousness. The album won six Grammys, including Album of the Year, which probably felt strange for guys used to being credited in liner notes nobody read.

The thing about Toto is they've always been deeply uncool in a way that doesn't seem to bother them much. They played prog-adjacent rock with jazz chops and pop hooks at a time when punk and new wave were supposed to matter more. Critics called them sterile. Fans kept buying tickets. Their technical ability was undeniable—these were players who could sightread anything—but that precision made some people uncomfortable, like the music was too polished to have a soul.

The lineup shifted constantly. Kimball left and returned. Jeff Porcaro died suddenly in 1992, a loss that gutted the band. Fergie Frederiksen had a brief stint on vocals. Joseph Williams came and went and came back. Mike Porcaro developed ALS and had to stop touring. Through it all, Lukather remained the constant, his guitar work holding down a sound that could slip from hard rock to fusion to blue-eyed soul within the same album.

Their post-"Toto IV" output never reached those heights commercially, but albums like "The Seventh One" and "Tambu" had moments. "Pamela" and "I Won't Hold You Back" got airplay. They stayed busy, touring relentlessly, playing to audiences who appreciated watching people who actually knew their instruments.

Then something weird happened. Around 2017, "Africa" became a meme, beloved by a generation too young to remember its first run. Weezer covered it. Toto responded by covering Weezer's "Hash Pipe." Suddenly they were almost hip, or at least hip-adjacent, though they seemed mildly bewildered by the whole thing.

They're still out there, playing casinos and festivals, older now but still capable. Lukather and Paich anchor the current version. The setlists lean heavy on "Toto IV" because of course they do. Session guys who accidentally became rock stars, still doing the work.

Toto shows are exactly what you'd expect: well-played, energetic, and full of singalongs. Crowds lose it when Africa hits. The band sounds tight because these are genuinely skilled musicians. Sets lean heavily on the hits but show they've got range.

Known for Africa, Rosanna, Hold the Line, I'll Be Over You, Stop Loving You Today

See Toto Live