Biography
From the session pits to the world stage: the Toto story
Roots in the Los Angeles studio scene
Long before Toto had a name, its founders were fixtures on other people's records. Keyboardist David Paich, son of arranger Marty Paich, helped shape Boz Scaggs's Silk Degrees, while drummer Jeff Porcaro, raised by session percussionist Joe Porcaro alongside brothers Steve and Mike, worked the Los Angeles studio circuit with guitarist Steve Lukather, bassist David Hungate and keyboardist Steve Porcaro. The players had backed acts such as Sonny & Cher and Scaggs, and Paich and Jeff Porcaro had earlier led a student band called Rural Still Life at Grant High School in Los Angeles.
Ready to record under their own banner, the musicians signed with Columbia Records and began the debut in 1977, adding former S.S. Fools singer Bobby Kimball as frontman. Accounts differ on the name: the band has said Jeff Porcaro marked early demo reels with the word Toto, while David Hungate pointed out that the Latin phrase in toto means all-encompassing, a fitting flag for players whose credits already spanned the genres on the radio.
Debut success and early growing pains
Released in October 1978, Toto climbed the charts behind Hold the Line, which reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, along with the charting singles I'll Supply the Love and Georgy Porgy. The album earned Toto a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist, and an American tour followed in early 1979. Extra touring players, including percussionist Lenny Castro, thickened the live sound and became a recurring part of Toto's stage apparatus.
The follow-ups were less certain. Hydra, released in 1979, still reached gold status, but Turn Back, issued in 1981, stalled in North America. Its strong showing in Japan, led by the single Goodbye Elenore, made that country a durable market for Toto's live work. Facing pressure from Columbia, the group rebuilt around the multi-genre approach of its debut for a fourth album.
Toto IV and the Grammy summit of 1983
Recorded across several months at Sunset Sound and Record One, with strings cut at Abbey Road in London, Toto IV was released on April 1, 1982. Rosanna spent five weeks at No. 2 on the Hot 100, I Won't Hold You Back reached the top ten, and Africa, written by Paich and Jeff Porcaro and built on layered kalimba and synthesizer parts, led the Hot 100 dated February 5, 1983.
At the 25th Annual Grammy Awards in 1983, Toto took Record of the Year for Rosanna, Album of the Year for Toto IV, and Producer of the Year, with further trophies for arrangements tied to Rosanna and for the album's engineering. Around the same time, members surfaced on Michael Jackson's Thriller: Steve Porcaro co-wrote Human Nature, and Jeff Porcaro and Lukather played on tracks including Beat It. Hungate left after Toto IV, and Mike Porcaro took over on bass.
A decade of changing voices
Bobby Kimball's departure during the Isolation sessions introduced a rotating cast of lead singers. Fergie Frederiksen fronted Isolation in 1984 before Joseph Williams, the son of composer John Williams, took the microphone in 1986. Fahrenheit returned the band to pop radio with the ballad I'll Be Over You, and The Seventh One, released in 1988, became a major seller for the band, with Pamela its most recent US top-40 single.
Steve Porcaro left in 1987 to write for film and television, and the group then paused for nearly two years. A label-driven retrospective, Past to Present 1977-1990, added new material with South African singer Jean-Michel Byron, but frictions on the ensuing Planet Earth tour led to his exit. Toto paused again as members pursued outside projects, including Lukather's solo debut album in 1989.
Loss, reinvention and the Phillips years
With no permanent vocalist, Lukather stepped to the front for Kingdom of Desire, recorded in 1991 and 1992. Then, on August 5, 1992, founding drummer Jeff Porcaro died suddenly at the age of 38. At his family's urging, the band carried on, hiring Simon Phillips, a drummer Jeff Porcaro admired, for the road and for the 1995 album Tambu. A tribute concert at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles that December benefited the Porcaro family.
The late 1990s brought the anniversary set Toto XX, Bobby Kimball's return, and Mindfields in 1999, followed by a reunion tour and the 2002 covers album Through the Looking Glass. Keyboardist Greg Phillinganes became a mainstay of the touring band as David Paich reduced his stage work, and Falling in Between, issued in 2007, preceded a hiatus in 2008.
Reunions, anniversaries and life on the road
Toto re-formed in 2010. The 2015 studio album Toto XIV reunited the group with original bassist David Hungate, and that same year bassist Mike Porcaro died at 59. Anniversary projects culminated in 2018 with the archival set 40 Trips Around the Sun and the studio album Old Is New, which the band has since treated as its final studio album, electing against further studio records.
Since reuniting in 2020, Toto has toured under the Dogz of Oz banner, opening for Journey in early 2022. Joseph Williams, Steve Lukather and David Paich remain the group's core members: Lukather continues to lead the band on stage and in the studio, while Paich has largely stepped back from the road. The catalogue keeps finding new listeners, with the Africa video passing one billion YouTube views in 2024 and the band announcing North American dates for summer 2026 alongside Christopher Cross and The Romantics, plus concerts in Japan in March 2027.
Selected moments
Career highlights
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Debut album Toto is released
Toto's self-titled Columbia debut arrived in October 1978, led by the top-five single Hold the Line and earning the band a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.
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Toto IV raises the stakes
Released April 1, 1982, Toto IV produced three Hot 100 top-ten singles and, with its singles, won six Grammy Awards in 1983; it was tracked at Sunset Sound and Record One with strings cut at Abbey Road.
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Africa tops the Hot 100
Written by David Paich and Jeff Porcaro, Africa reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated February 5, 1983, and has remained the band's signature song.
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Six Grammy Awards for Toto IV
At the 25th Annual Grammy Awards, Toto won Album of the Year for Toto IV and Record of the Year for Rosanna among six trophies connected to the album and single.
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Jeff Porcaro dies at 38
Toto's founding drummer died on August 5, 1992; at his family's request the band continued, with Simon Phillips behind the drums for Kingdom of Desire and the tours that followed.
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Musicians Hall of Fame induction
Toto was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum at the Nashville institution's third induction ceremony, honouring the members' collective session legacy.
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Toto XIV and a founder's farewell
The band's 2015 studio album reunited Toto with original bassist David Hungate; that same year, bassist Mike Porcaro died at the age of 59.
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Old Is New closes the studio chapter
Issued alongside 40th anniversary projects, Old Is New became Toto's most recent studio album, with the band electing not to record another.
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Africa video passes one billion views
In June 2024 the Africa music video became Toto's first clip to reach one billion views on YouTube, more than four decades after the song topped the Hot 100.
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North American tour announced
Toto announced summer 2026 North American dates alongside Christopher Cross and The Romantics, extending the band's Dogz of Oz-era road work.
Recognition
Grammy Awards and Musicians Hall of Fame honours
The Recording Academy's artist page credits Toto with three Grammy wins from five nominations, clustered around the 1979 and 1983 ceremonies: Album of the Year for Toto IV, Record of the Year for Rosanna, and Producer of the Year awarded to the band itself.
The 25th Annual Grammy Awards record also documents arrangement and engineering trophies tied to Toto IV and Rosanna, while Toto's Best New Artist candidacy ended as a 1979 nomination. The band was separately inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2009.
- Grammy Awards won (artist credit)
- 3
- Grammy nominations (artist credit)
- 5
| Year | Award | Category | Work |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Grammy Award | Best New ArtistNominee | |
| 1983 | Grammy Award | Album of the YearWinner | Toto IV |
| 1983 | Grammy Award | Record of the YearWinner | Rosanna |
| 1983 | Grammy Award | Producer of the Year, Non-ClassicalWinner | |
| 1983 | Grammy Award | Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with VocalNominee | Rosanna (Single) |
| 2009 | Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum induction | InducteeWinner |