TOTO’s Steve Lukather On The New “With A Little Help From My Friends” Album, His Memoir, Weezer, Van Halen & More

Over the past several years, TOTO has had a major renaissance in popularity like few bands this far into a career as just last year its hit “Africa” went from being a Platinum single to being recently-recertified 6 times Platinum. Its 40th anniversary in 2018 was marked by them releasing a brand new retrospective album (40 Trips Around The Sun) and embarking on its most successful worldwide tour to date. TOTO aside, as individuals, the band’s members can be heard on an astonishing 5,000 albums that together amass a sales history of a half-a-billion albums, which themselves have yielded more than 200 Grammy nominations. And those 5,000+ albums include recordings by Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Chicago, Donna Summer, Aretha Franklin, George Benson, and even Van Halen.

The latest album from TOTO is With A Little Help From My Friends, which captures a special night — November 21, 2020 — when Steve Lukather, Joseph Williams and David Paich appeared with the new TOTO lineup for a global event originating from Los Angeles. Commented TOTO vocalist Joseph Williams in a prepared statement: “In the midst of a global pandemic and an unprecedented lockdown we realized a few things. Musicians must play and people need to get together to watch them. It was then Luke, Dave and I decided to call upon our friends to create this performance. We welcomed new friends on to the stage and found an instant connection with them.” Added Williams: “The fact is we couldn’t have pulled it off without the love and support of our friends and family. Never was a title or a song been more appropriate [as With A Little Help From My Friends.” Joining Lukather, Williams and Paich for this next chapter of TOTO are new band members bassist John Pierce (Huey Lewis & The News), drummer Robert “Sput” Searight (Ghost-Note, Snarky Puppy) and keyboardist and background vocalist Steve Maggiora (Robert Jon & The Wreck), as featured on With A Little Help From My Friends.

On June 25, 2021, I had the pleasure of speaking with Steve Lukather — also known to guitarheads and long-time TOTO fans as “Luke” — via Zoom, as embedded below. Beyond With A Little Help From My Friends, we spoke of his recent memoir, his recent solo album, Van Halen and future plans. More on Lukather, Williams, Paich and TOTO can be found by clicking here, here and here.

SHARE ON FACEBOOK SHARE ON TWITTER

Tags: David Paich, Guitarists, Joseph Williams, Los Angeles, Michael Jackson, Steve Lukather, Toto, Van Halen

About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."