Steve Lukather
Guitarist, singer, composer and producer Steve Lukather celebrates his birthday today!
(Photo: Mark Regemann)
He is considered one of the most sought-after and recorded session players in the history of world music, having appeared on more than 1,500 albums, the only founding member of the band "Toto" who never left its ranks, and a virtuoso guitarist who left an indelible mark on the world of rock and pop for five decades. Here are 37 interesting facts about Steve Lukather...
1. He was born on October 21, 1957, in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California, with the full name Steven Lee Lukather.
2. His father, William Lukather, worked as an assistant director and production manager at Paramount Studios and was involved in producing classic American television series in the 1950s and 1960s, which exposed his son to the entertainment industry from a young age.
3. The first instruments he played as a child were keyboards and drums, before moving on to the guitar, which became the central instrument of his life.
4. The turning point in his life occurred at the age of six, when he watched the historic performance of "The Beatles" on the Ed Sullivan TV show in February 1964, and his father purchased a Kay acoustic guitar for him along with a copy of the album "Meet the Beatles!".
5. He has testified over the years that George Harrison's solo on the song "I Saw Her Standing There" from that album was the moment that changed his life and made him decide to become a professional guitarist.
6. Although he taught himself to play by ear in his early years, at age 14 he began taking regular lessons from the esteemed jazz guitarist Jimmy Wyble, who taught him note reading, harmony, and orchestration, skills that paved his way into the world of Los Angeles studio musicians.
7. While studying at Grant High School in North Hollywood, he met his classmates who became his lifelong musical partners, keyboardist David Paich and the Porcaro brothers, drummer Jeff Porcaro, keyboardist Steve Porcaro, and bassist Mike Porcaro.
8. In high school, he formed the youth band "Still Life," in which he played alongside his friend guitarist Michael Landau, bassist John Pierce, keyboardist Steve Porcaro, and drummer Carlos Vega, a group whose members all later became sought-after top musicians.
9. Drummer Jeff Porcaro, who was three years older than him and had already played as a teenager with the band "Steely Dan" and with the duo "Sonny & Cher", became Steve Lukather's musical mentor and opened the first doors to professional recording studios for him.
10. His first major professional studio and stage work came in his late teens with singer Boz Scaggs, when he played on the successful albums "Down Two Then Left" from 1977 and "Middle Man" from 1980.
11. In 1976, while still in his late teens, he was invited by David Paich and Jeff Porcaro to form the band "Toto" with Steve Porcaro, bassist David Hungate, and vocalist Bobby Kimball.
12. In October 1978, the band's debut album, "Toto," was released, which achieved enormous commercial success thanks to the breakthrough single "Hold the Line," in which the heavy riff and Steve Lukather's solo defined the unique sound that connected hard rock with pop and jazz-fusion.
13. Already on "Toto's" debut album, he contributed his voice as lead singer on the songs "Georgy Porgy" and "Angela", and since then he has continued to sing a significant part of the band's repertoire alongside its dedicated vocalists.
14. In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, he became one of the busiest session musicians in the world, sometimes recording over twenty sessions a week for artists such as Elton John, Paul McCartney, Aretha Franklin, Cher, Don Henley, Lionel Richie and Olivia Newton-John.
15. In 1981, he also gained fame as a songwriter for other artists, after co-writing with Jay Graydon and Bill Champlin the hit "Turn Your Love Around" for jazz guitarist and singer George Benson, a song that earned him his first Grammy Award in the Best R&B Song category.
16. In 1982, he experienced the greatest year of his career, both with the release of his band's fourth masterpiece album, "Toto IV," and thanks to his central participation in the recordings of the best-selling album in history, Michael Jackson's "Thriller," produced by Quincy Jones.
17. On the album "Toto IV" he demonstrated extraordinary virtuosity in songs that became global anthems such as "Rosanna" and "Africa", and at the 1983 Grammy Awards ceremony the band won six statuettes in one evening, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year.
18. In the recordings of Michael Jackson's album "Thriller" he played on three key songs, the duet "The Girl Is Mine" with Paul McCartney, the gentle ballad "Human Nature" written by his bandmate Steve Porcaro, and the huge rock hit "Beat It".
19. Contrary to the common myth that Eddie Van Halen played all the guitars on the song "Beat It", the iconic guitar riff and all the rhythm guitars and bass guitar in the song were actually played by Steve Lukather, while Eddie Van Halen was only invited to record the middle solo.
20. When Eddie Van Halen recorded his solo in the studio, the recording engineers accidentally cut the original tape without a guide channel, and Steve Lukather along with drummer Jeff Porcaro had to rebuild and re-record the entire drum, bass, and guitar envelope around Eddie Van Halen's solo to save the song.
21. Even earlier, in 1978, he had formed a close relationship with the band "Van Halen", and he was even invited to sing background vocals on the band's albums, such as the song "Top Jimmy" from the album "1984" and on the band's later albums.
22. On the band's sixth album, "Fahrenheit" (1986), he co-wrote the ballad "I'll Be Over You" with Randy Goodrum and sang lead vocals. Michael McDonald supplied backing vocals on that song, while trumpeter Miles Davis appeared on the instrumental "Don't Stop Me Now".
23. In 1989, he released his first solo album, "Lukather," in which he collaborated with his close friends Eddie Van Halen, Steve Stevens, Richard Marx, and Jan Hammer, and began an extensive solo career in parallel with his activities in the band.
24. In August 1992, on the eve of the release of the heavy and dark album "Kingdom of Desire", he suffered a severe personal and professional blow with the sudden death of his good friend and drummer Jeff Porcaro at the age of only 38.
25. Lukather had already taken the lead-vocal role on "Kingdom of Desire" before Jeff Porcaro died; Porcaro played drums on the album. British drummer Simon Phillips joined for the subsequent tour and later recorded "Tambu" (1995).
26. During the 1990s, he also led the fusion and blues-rock band "Los Lobotomys" alongside drummer Simon Phillips and keyboardist David Garfield, the band with which he released an album and performed in clubs around the world.
27. In 1993, he began a long-term collaboration with the Ernie Ball Music Man guitar company, which launched for him the famous signature guitar series bearing his nickname, the Luke model, which in its third and fourth generation reached the status of one of the most popular guitars in the industry.
28. In 2001, he and guitar legend Larry Carlton released the live album "No Substitutions: Live in Osaka," produced by Steve Vai, an album that earned the duo the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album at the 2002 ceremony.
29. In 2003, he released the special holiday album "Santamental," which featured a host of legendary guitarists including Eddie Van Halen, Slash, Steve Vai, and Mike Landau for rock-inspired renditions of Christmas songs.
30. In October 2009, he and his bandmates from the band "Toto" were inducted into the Nashville Musicians Hall of Fame, in recognition of their tremendous contributions to the world of recording and performing.
31. In 2012, he joined the prestigious G3 world tour alongside Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, and in the same year, he was invited by legendary "The Beatles" drummer Ringo Starr to join as lead guitarist and vocalist for his touring band, "Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band," of which he has been a permanent member ever since.
32. In June 2018, he arrived in Israel and performed two consecutive concerts at the Menorah Mivtachim Hall in Tel Aviv as part of the "Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band", where he also performed his band's classics "Rosanna", "Africa" and "Hold the Line" for the Israeli audience.
33. In September 2018, he published his successful autobiography, "The Gospel According to Luke," in which he recounts with humor and extraordinary honesty the behind-the-scenes stories of the Los Angeles music industry, the personal tragedies of brothers Mike Porcaro and Jeff Porcaro, and life on the road.
34. In February 2021, he released his eighth solo album, "I Found the Sun Again," which was recorded with a live analog approach in the studio and included an exciting collaboration with Ringo Starr on the song and video "Run to Me".
35. In June 2023, he released his ninth solo album, "Bridges", in which he collaborated in writing and performing with his Toto bandmates, vocalist Joseph Williams and keyboardist David Paich, alongside drummer Simon Phillips and his son, bassist Trev Lukather.
36. Even as he approaches his 69th birthday, and despite years of dealing with tinnitus in his ears from decades of working in studios and on huge stages, he continues to lead the band "Toto" on successful world tours and perform alongside Ringo Starr as the oldest and most loyal member who has kept the flame of his band burning from its founding in 1976 to the present day.
37. In October 2026 he announced a reissue of "Santamental", originally released in 2003. CD and digital editions are scheduled for November 7, 2026, with vinyl shipments to follow. The album combines holiday interpretations with original songs; it is not a new studio album. All artist proceeds from this edition will go to the Ed Asner Family Center, which supports people with special needs and their families.
"Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog
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