Toto are a Grammy-winning American rock band formed in 1976 who topped the charts in the early 80s with a succession of hits including "Africa" and "Rosanna".
The band were formed by top session musicians, keyboard player David Paich and drummer Jeff Porcaro. They were joined by bassist David Hungate, guitarist Steve Lukather, Jeff Porcaro's brother, keyboard player Steve Porcaro, with vocalist Bobby Kimball completing the line-up.
The band hit the ground running with their debut album. Toto featured the single "Hold the Line" which earned them a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. After two more albums, including the gold-selling Hydra in 1979, the band really hit the big time with their next release.
The album, Toto IV (1982), was among the best-selling records of the 80s. It was promoted by the rock ballads "Africa", which made the Billboard Hot 100 No.1, and "Rosanna" which received the Grammy for Record of the Year. The album received five other Grammys, including Album of the Year.
IV proved to be hard to follow and Isolation and Fahrenheit failed to capture the mood in the way that IV had. The band also provided an instrumental soundtrack for David Lynch's film Dune. The cult nature of the film did no favours for Toto in the record shops, and the album did not sell in large quantities.
With Steve Porcaro gone to pursue other ventures, the band brought in Yes vocalist Jon Anderson for "Stop Loving You" from The Seventh One. However combined purchases by fans of both bands only just took the single into the Top 100 in the UK. The album's success may have been hindered due to problems at the record company, which resulted in no promotional budget for the album.
Toto nearly disbanded in 1992, with the death of Jeff Porcaro. However, a suitable replacement was found in Simon Phillips, and the band toured in dedication to Porcaro's memory. The tour finished with the Tribute to Jeff Porcaro Concert. It is testimony to his standing within the industry that the concert featured appearances by George Harrison, Eddie Van Halen and Don Henley among the line-up.
In 1995 the album Tambu was released. Not quite as polished as their earlier works, the album was not a great success in the US, but did go on to sell more than half a million copies in other markets. The band found critical and fan acclaim with their 2006 release Falling in Between. The album saw the band back on form and was compared favourably with their early 80's output.
