During an interview session with Kenny Aronoff, Toto’s Steve Lukather, who released his new solo album ‘Bridges’ last month, recently discussed the band’s decision to move on without its original members. Talking about their long-lasting career, he said:
“We thought if we got ten years, wouldn’t that be outrageous? Like our heroes, the Beatles moved together for ten years. It was 1977 when we got signed, so it was only seven years after the Beatles broke up. So, we figured ten years or whatever. Gosh! We’re dreaming of a hit record. Ten years and then all of a sudden, now, it’s 46 years. I really never guessed it.”
Then, he revealed their reason for going on:
“I mean, we wouldn’t still be doing it if nobody showed up. There’s been fifteen incarnations. There were different bases with Joseph, who’s my oldest friend in line. So, I’m surrounded by childhood friends still. Even though we have some killer, younger players hold their energy to it.”
Mentioning the criticism they faced, the singer explained:
“It’s not 1978, the start of the original with Jeff [Porcaro]. How could it be? I’m just trying to keep the music alive because I put my whole life into this thing. I fought for it. It wasn’t cool when we took all this crap. We took so much s**t. I don’t know. They thought we couldn’t be a real rock band if we were in the studio like being in the studio is a bad thing.”
He touched on being compared to other punk bands and added:
“When punk first hit, we were like studying with five different kinds of teachers, learning about music, and all of a sudden; it’s totally uncalled for to be a great player. Because it was the ’70s, and then punking was just to bash that out. I get it, but to compare us to that is not fair. That’s what they did. They were like, ‘This is everything that’s wrong,’ and they point to us. ‘This is everything that’s right,’ and they put the Sex Pistols. How can you compare that?”
Lukather also revealed the founding members’ involvement with Toto by saying:
“Well, [It’s] me and [David] Paich. He comes out once in a while, but he can’t do full tours. Medically, he’s just not there. He still makes all of this. Me and him make all the decisions in the band with Joseph [Williams] as well.”
In 2019, the band split for a while following the members’ health issues and the legal battles with Jeff Poracaro’s estate. When they reunited a year later, Paich joined them for only a few performances. Around that time, talking about Toto’s breakup, Joseph Williams said:
“[The split] would have come inevitably. […] Dave [Paich] was sort of up and down with his health. Although he’s great now, and he’s fine, and he still comes out and contributes stuff, touring is not for him anymore, either…But you know, the lawsuit was just sort of salt on a thing that was already happening.”
As of now, the band has an ongoing tour in Japan that will continue until July 21, after which they will hit the road for a series of shows in Germany in November.
