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Best-known
as the guitarist for early MTV-era hit makers Toto, Steve Lukather remains
one of the world's top session men, having played on well over a hundred
recordings by a wide variety of artists over the years. Born in Los
Angeles, California on October 21, 1957, Lukather discovered rock music
the way just about every single other young U.S. citizen did during
the '60s — via the Beatles. Starting off as a drummer and keyboardist,
it wasn't until his father purchased Lukather a guitar that he found
his true musical calling.
At first self-taught, Lukather eventually sought the help of older guitar-playing
classmates, as well as a formal teacher, which led to an interest in
becoming a session guitarist (courtesy of drummer Jeff Porcaro and keyboardist
Steve Porcaro, both of whom attended the same high school as Lukather).
Right around the time Lukather turned 20, the guitarist was invited
to join the Porcaro brothers in a pop/rock band comprised primarily
of studio musicians, Toto (which also featured singer Bobby Kimball,
bassist David Hungate, and keyboardist/singer David Paich).
While Lukather would join the band, he also managed to maintain his
busy session schedule, playing on albums by Leo Sayer, Boz Scaggs, Alice
Cooper, Barbra Steisand, the Pointer Sisters, Cher, and Cheap Trick
during the late '70s. Specializing in the same mainstream radio rock
sounds as Foreigner and Journey, Toto scored a hit right off the bat
with their debut album, 1978's Toto, which cracked the U.S. Top Ten,
as did one of its singles, "Hold the Line." Despite the immediate commercial
success, many critics gave Toto the tag of being a 'faceless slick band,'
and it appeared as though it was a fitting description, as Toto's next
two releases, 1979's Hydra and 1981's Turn Back, failed to match the
artistic and commercial success of their hit debut.
Just as it appeared as though Toto would continue their slide off the
charts, the group issued one of 1982's biggest albums, the Grammy Award
winning Toto IV, a Top Five album that spawned such monster hits as
"Rosanna" (Number Two) and "Africa" (Number One), as well as a single
that Lukather penned entirely himself, "I Won't Hold You Back" (Number
Ten). The same year, most of Toto were invited to play on Michael Jackson's
Thriller, one of the biggest selling albums in pop music history. As
a result, session work poured in for Lukather, as he played on '80s-era
recordings by Elton John, Herb Alpert, Warren Zevon, Chicago, Lionel
Richie, Joni Mitchell, and Neil Diamond, among countless others.
Toto continued to issue albums on a semi-regular basis, but after deciding
to part ways with singer Kimball after Toto IV, the group was unable
to sustain their success. Despite juggling his busy schedule between
session dates and Toto, Lukather managed to also launch a solo career
during the late '80s, with the release of his 1989 debut, Lukather.
Further solo releases followed (1990s Candyman, 1997's Luke, 2001's
Grammy Award-winning collaboration with Larry Carlton, No Substitutions,
and 2003's Santamental), as did further sessions (Bob Seger, Rod Stewart,
Spinal Tap, Van Halen, and the Yardbirds).
This
bio courtesy www.allmusic.com
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