Steve Lukather, founding guitarist and de facto leader of the band Toto, is calling from a hotel room, doing another phone interview to promote the group’s 40th anniversary tour.
“Where am I? I’m in Minneapolis right now,” Lukather says with a laugh between sips of coffee this morning. “You know, man, I’m looking out a hotel window at a bunch of hi-rise buildings. I can be anywhere on planet Earth right now. It’s downtown in a big city — I mean, that’s what it looks like to me.”
That’s the life Lukather has known for the past 40 years. But Toto will end its 40th anniversary tour — now in its third year — when it plays The Met Philadelphia on Sunday.
And Lukather, 61, says that also will be the end of the band that includes other founding members Steve Porcaro and, until recently, David Paich — as well as longtime vocalist Joseph Williams. And there is no plan to continue Toto after that, he says.
“We worked really hard and this is a great way to …,” Lukather says, trailing off to avoid the words to describe the band’s end. “I don’t know what the future-future’s gonna be, but I do know that’s gonna be the last show in Philly for the foreseeable future. And certainly the end of this configuration of Toto.”
That’s a startling statement for a group that in the late 1970s and early ’80s had gold and platinum albums with such hits as “Hold The Line,” “Rosanna” and “Africa” — and won six Grammy Awards.
The band first broke onto the scene with its 1978 self-titled debut disc, which broke the Top 10 and sold double platinum with the gold “Hold the Line” and the follow-up hit “I’ll Supply the Love.” Its 1979 sophomore disc, “Hydra,” went gold and produced the hit “99.”
But Toto’s biggest success came with 1982’s “Toto IV,” which broke the Top 10 and had the No. 1 hit “Africa,” which also went gold.
At the 1983 Grammys, “Rosanna” won Record of the Year, Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices and Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal, and also was nominated for Song of the Year. “Toto IV” won Album of the Year and Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical.
It continued its success, having three gold or platinum albums through its 1990 greatest-hits disc “Past to Present 1977-1990.” It has released eight studio discs since.
“This kind of lifestyle is way harder than people think it is,” Lukather says. “They just think that we float around from city to city magically and live a life of luxury. And I’m not saying that we travel poorly, but it’s a burden to be away from your family 230 days a year, like me.
“I go from tour to tour to tour. It’s the other guys don’t do that.”
The road already has claimed Paich, who co-wrote most of the band’s hits and sang “Africa.” Fifteen months ago, Paich “fell ill” on the bus after the tour’s first big European leg, Lukather says.
“It was really the scariest thing ever,” Lukather says. “He had some sort of a seizure or something like that. We went home and he had to retire from touring because of his health. Apparently he pushed himself a little too hard and he fell, you know, so to speak.
“I mean, Dave’s still playing. He can sing. He’s up and about and he’s happy and he’s walking around. But he’s not built for speed anymore, you know what I mean? He came out in L.A. recently, played our first show with us, came out at the end. And that was a nice way to close the book — at least this chapter.”
The irony, Lukather says, is that Toto is as popular as ever. Its most recent studio album, “Toto XIV,” released in 2015, was its first disc of new material in nine years and the first to chart in 28. The band has now collected more than a billion streams online, Lukather says.
“I mean, that’s impressive in terms of people listening to the music, but when it comes to paying my house off, it’s not doing me any good,” Lukather says with a laugh. “I mean, people think, ‘Wow! A billion — you must be stinking rich. I’m, like, ‘No we’re not.’
“You would think, though — if that were terrestrial radio, I’d be talking to you from my space shuttle right now. But that’s just the way it is. The business changed, life changes, the planet changes, we have to change with it — even if we go begrudgingly.”
The 40th anniversary tour also has been a huge hit.
“The band, playing-wise and crowds coming out — most successful tour we’ve had in our career,” he says. “Seriously. Were doing stuff overseas – 35,000, 50,000 people. We were headlining these tours, we were selling out arenas … And we broke the gross record at the Budokan in Japan.”
Toto also recently released a three-disc live album of the 40th anniversary tour.
“We filmed the thing [in front of] 18,000 people,” Lukather says. “It was our anniversary show. And, you know, I think Dave’s retirement was sort of coming — we knew it was coming. ‘Cause he’s just an older dude and he’s had some health problems over the years. And touring is much more difficult for him. In terms of his health — not playing. And so I’m glad we captured this.”
Another thing that has worn down Toto is constant legal battles, Lukather says. And though he avoids naming names, battles with former record company executives and original singer Bobby Kimball have been widely publicized.
“Another bummer of our situation and why we’re calling it a day,” he says. “We’ve had some horrendous litigation. Horrendous, horrendous, awful, mean, you-gotta-be-kidding-me kind of lawsuits, and we lost the suit. So it beat us down.
“So we gotta get away from this. We gotta get away from the whole thing.”
Even if Toto never plays a live show again, Lukather says he’ll continue to be busy.
“I got a solo record, I’m starting the first quarter of next year.” he says. He also tours frequently with Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band.
“How do you say no to Ringo Starr? You just don’t,” he says. “But that is my vacation tour. I’m also touring on my own in Japan. I got a lot of stuff going on, man, all year long. I got a couple of my fusion bands working. There’s talk about something in Europe that I can’t talk about yet; but it’s like a guitar-player thing. It’s really cool.
“I might do some dates with this band that I’m in with Billy Gibbons [of ZZ Top] occasionally, called Supersonic Blues Machine. So if I’m stick-and-run, I’m in and out, I can make some money and hang out at home more. So that’s the idea.”
He also has a second book in the works. His first, the 2017 autobiography “The Gospel According to Luke,” did really well, he says — “No. 1, five stars on Amazon. … It’s still selling and the audio book is and I guess people are reading the thing. It’s kind of scary to think, but it did well enough that they came at me to do a second book. Which will no doubt be called ‘The New Testament.'”
Of course, even with Toto, Lukather will never say never. He’s closed down the band before — back in 2008, when founding bassist Mike Porcaro left the band after announcing he was afflicted with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Mike Porcaro died in 2015. Paich also had retired at that time before rejoining Toto when it reunited.
“I don’t know, man. I can’t predict the future,” he says. “I can tell you that this version is dead October 20. Whatever happens down the line, man, I don’t know what’s going to happen with Dave. I don’t know what’s going to happen with me.
“I know that we just gotta … We gotta take a break from all this. We were beat up really badly and we gotta heal and figure out what’s going on. I mean, the music’s still there. I’m not saying I’m never gonna play this music again — that would be stupid to say; that would be a lie.
“I can play whatever I want from my entire career with whomever I want to, and so can everybody else. But I don’t know what that is yet. We’ve been working really hard for a really long time if you look at the last 10 years of touring for the band, we’ve toured more than we ever have.
“We’re playing better than ever. That’s the irony. … The band, we’re playing great. When we walk on stage, man, it’s like we’re kids again, and we just give it all we got. It keeps you youthful inside. I feel great — I feel better than I did when I was 40, you know?
“As far as physically and playing-wise, the band’s matured. We’re playing together. It’s fun — I’m having a great time. And that two hours plus on stage is what we’re out here to do. That’s our big payoff. We don’t get paid for that — we get paid for the other 20 hours a day where we’re in a very nice little prison called a hotel room.
“I’ve been on the road my whole life. Going out and seeing the sights — I’ve kind of done that, you know?”
Morning Call Lehigh Valley Music reporter and columnist John J. Moser can be reached at 610-820-6722 or jmoser@mcall.com
TOTO: 40TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR
When: 8 p.m. Sunday
Where: The Met Philadelphia, 858 N. Broad St., Philadelphia
Tickets: $39.50-$59.50
Info: www.themetphilly.com, 800-745-3000
