The founding member and guitarist Steve Lukather, and considered as the leader of the band – recently announced that they are calling it quits during a phone interview from a hotel room, promoting their 40th-anniversary tour.
“Where am I? I’m in Minneapolis right now,” Lukather over the phone while having a happy 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.”
We all know that for 40 years, Toto has been Lukather’s life, and the rest of his crew as well. But, they decided that everything will end on its 40th-anniversary tour – which is now its third year — playing The Met Philadelphia on Sunday (Oct. 20).
And Lukather added that the end of the band which also includes founding members Steve Porcaro and, until recently, David Paich, and long-time frontman Joseph Williams will retire from Toto and there’s no any plan to continue even after their tour, ending on Sunday (Oct. 20).
“We worked really hard and this is a great way to …,” Lukather says, while trying to avoid discussing 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.”
Everything has an end, even for Toto, after having, in the late 1970s and early ’80s, gold and platinum albums with such classics as “Hold The Line,” “Rosanna” and “Africa” — including also six Grammy Awards.
Toto’s first success was their 1978 self-titled debut, which peaked the top 10 and sold double platinum with the gold “Hold the Line” and the follow-up hit “I’ll Supply the Love,” while their follow-up album, 1979 “Hydra,” went gold and included the hit “99.”