History Music / Toto

* "Greg Phillinganes" - keyboards, lead and backing vocals (2005-2008, 2022, 2024-present)

* Greg Phillinganes - keyboards, lead and backing vocals (2005-2008, 2022, 2024-present)

* Steve Maggiora - keyboards, backing vocals

* '''David Paich''' - keyboards, synthesizers, lead and backing vocals (1976-2008, 2010-2019)

* Greg Phillinganes [[note]] Filled in for David Paich live [[/note]] - keyboards, lead and backing vocals (2003, 2005-08)

* Robert "Sput" Searight - drums, percussion (2020-present)

* Dominique "Xavier" Taplin [[note]] Filled in for David Paich from 2018 to 2019 [[/note]] - keyboards, lead and backing vocals (2018-2019, 2020-present)

* LongTitle: "I Think I Could Stand You Forever" from ''Turn Back'' and "Can You Hear What I'm Saying" from ''Past to Present 1977-1990'' are some of the longest of Toto's song titles.

** Frustrated by their inability to find a consistent lead singer, Steve Lukather took over sole lead vocal duties between 1992 and 1998.

* RevolvingDoorBand: The band had shifted between six-piece, five-piece and at one time, a four-piece line-up through their career, with members drifting in and out of the band (along with Jeff Porcaro's tragic death and Mike Porcaro's death to ALS), with only Steve Lukather having stayed with Toto through all of its incarnations. Now, the band current stand at two members: Lukather, and vocalist Joseph Williams. This of course doesn't count the sheer number of musicians that have performed live with them (38 in total, at current count) or the even larger number of guests they've had on their albums.

* SpecialGuest: Music/MilesDavis was featured in ''Fahrenheit'''s [[SimilarlyNamedWorks "Don't Stop Me Now"]].

* DracoInLeatherPants: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in ''Isolation'''s "Stranger in Town":
->How can a man who's a criminal be a hero to the kids?

* GenreRoulette: Most in evidence on ''Toto IV'', which featured songs distinctly placed in the hard rock, rhythm and blues, pop rock and even world music categories.

* NewSoundAlbum: All of their albums were characterised by an [=AOR=] sheen, but ''Hydra'' saw the band attempting ProgressiveRock and ''Turn Back'' was strongly influenced by English HardRock groups like Music/{{Queen}} and Music/LedZeppelin. ''Kingdom of Desire'' sounded more like hard rock, and ''Tambu'' was much more organic-sounding.
* NobodyLovesTheBassist: David Hungate. Despite playing on their most successful albums he's less well-known than Mike Porcaro, who was in fact originally intended to be a founding member, according to Steve Lukather, but was kept out by executives with the band's record label, Creator/ColumbiaRecords, who wanted to retain the successful chemistry of the line-up from Boz Scaggs' critically acclaimed ''Silk Degrees'' album, as Hungate, Lukather and other members of Toto except for Kimball were Scaggs' backing band at the time.

** ''Hydra'': "Lorraine", "Mama"

** ''Mindfields'': "Selfish", "Melanie", "Cruel"

** During their peak popularity, he, Steve Porcaro and David Paich usually had at least one song on each album that featured them singing lead.

* SelfTitledAlbum: Their first album (''Toto''), their fourth album (''Toto IV''), their fourteenth album (''Toto XIV''), and their 20th anniversary compilation album (''Toto XX''). Aside from these, all of their other albums had individual titles.
* SomethingBlues: "21st Century Blues" from ''Toto XIV''.

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Kingdom Of Desire''.

* EarlyBirdCameo: The title track of ''Kingdom of Desire'' and "Jake to the Bone" both appear in the Montreux 1991 DVD, a year before they were officially released.

* StepUpToTheMicrophone: Frustrated by their inability to find a consistent lead singer, Steve Lukather took over sole lead vocal duties between 1992 and 1998. During their peak popularity, he, Steve Porcaro and David Paich usually had at least one song on each album that featured them singing lead. Keyboardist Greg Phillinganes sang lead on some songs in ''Falling in Between''.

* GreatestHitsAlbum: ''24'' of these have been released. The ones with original material include ''Past to Present 1977-1990'' (1990), which included four newly recorded tracks, and ''Toto XX'' (1998), which included eleven previously recorded but unreleased tracks.

* CompilationAlbum: ''24'' of these have been released. The ones with original material include ''Past to Present 1977-1990'', which included four newly recorded tracks, and ''Toto XX'' (1998), which included eleven previously recorded but unreleased tracks.

* OneWomanSong: "Rosanna" is their most famous; Steve Porcaro had briefly dated actress Creator/RosannaArquette and he dedicated the song to her, although Paich (who [[WordOfGod wrote the song]]) insists that it's not really about anyone in particular and Arquette's forename just happened to fit the chorus. They have one of these songs on almost every album:

* OneWomanSong: "Rosanna" is their most famous; Steve Porcaro had briefly dated actress Creator/RosannaArquette and he dedicated the song to her, although Paich insists that it's not really about anyone in particular and Arquette's forename just happened to fit the chorus. They have one of these songs on almost every album:

** ''Toto IV'': none
** ''Isolation'': none

*** The shortest song on the album is "Only You" (4:28), except for the Japanese release which also has a cover of [[Music/{{JimiHendrix}} "Little Wing"]] (4:15). All together, the album has an average song length of 5 minutes and 20 seconds.

*** Every song except for two or three ("Dave's Gone Skiing" at 4:59, "The Road Goes On" at 4:26, and "Blackeye" (Japanese release only) at 3:53) eclipses five minutes. The song length average (5:23) is similar to the previous album.

** ''Mindfields'': "After You've Gone" (6:37), "Mindfields" (6:04), "High Price of Hate" (9:22), "Caught in the Balance" (6:21), "Better World" (7:50).
*** Some editions had a longer version of "High Price of Hate" at 9:50.

** ''Old is New'': None

* OneWomanSong: "Rosanna" is their most famous; Steve Porcaro had briefly dated actress Creator/RosannaArquette and he dedicated the song to her, although Paich insists that it's not really about anyone in particular and Arquette's forename just happened to fit the chorus. They one of these songs on almost every album:

* CoverVersion: A cover of [[Music/{{Weezer}} "Hash Pipe"]], done in response to Weezer's cover of "Africa".

* NewSoundAlbum: All of their albums were characterised by an [=AOR=] sheen, but ''Hydra'' saw the band attempting ProgressiveRock and ''Turn Back'' was strongly influenced by English HardRock groups like Music/{{Queen}} and Music/LedZeppelin.

* OneManSong: "Jake to the Bone" and "Dave's Gone Skiing", both instrumental tracks from ''Kingdom of Desire'' and ''Tambu'' respectively. "Spiritual Man" from ''Falling in Between'' and "Unknown Soldier (For Jeffrey)" from ''Toto XIV'' are also examples.

** ''Hydra'': "Lorraine"

** ''Isolation'': "Carmen", [WhoNamesTheirKidDude "Holyanna"]

** ''Tambu'': [RuleOfThree None]

* SelfTitledAlbum: Their first album (''Toto'') and their fourth album (''Toto IV''). Aside from these, all of their other albums had individual titles.

* OneWomanSong: "Rosanna" is their most famous; Steve Porcaro had briefly dated actress Creator/RosannaArquette and he dedicated the song to her, although Paich insists that it's not really about anyone in particular and Arquette's forename just happened to fit the chorus. Curiously enough, they've got a song with a woman's name ending in 'a' for the title on most of their albums ("Angela", "Rosanna", "Holyanna", "Lea", "Pamela", "Anna"), with one exception being "Melanie" from their Mindfields album.
* PowerBallad: "Africa" & "I Won't Hold You Back".

* StepUpToTheMicrophone: Frustrated by their inability to find a consistent lead singer, Steve Lukather took over sole lead vocal duties between 1992 and 1998. During their peak popularity, he, Steve Porcaro and David Paich usually had at least one song on each album that featured them singing lead.

While the group's music incorporates HardRock, ProgressiveRock, {{Soul}} and {{Jazz}}, they are most commonly associated with the Soft Rock and [=AOR=] categories. Indeed, they are often noted as the TropeCodifier for the latter genre; their keyboard-driven music combined with Kimball's soaring vocal and Lukather's slashing guitar arguably bridged the gap between Music/FleetwoodMac and {{Music/Foreigner}}.

{{Music/Boston}} and {{Music/Journey}} may have arrived on the scene first, but there was no band that defined the {{AOR}} boom of the [[TheSeventies late seventies]] and [[TheEighties early eighties]] quite like Toto.

* TropeCodifier: For Album-Oriented Rock ([=AOR=]). Only the aforementioned Music/{{Boston}} and Music/{{Journey}} beat them to being the TropeMaker.

* ShapedLikeItself: The infamous line in "Africa" about how "Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus", essentially comparing one mountain to another.

* ShapedLikeItself: The infamous line in "Africa" about how "Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus", essentially saying "sure as one mountain rises like a different mountain."

While the group's music incorporates HardRock, ProgressiveRock, {{Soul}} and {{Jazz}}, they are most commonly associated with the SoftRock and [=AOR=] categories. Indeed, they are often noted as the TropeCodifier for the latter genre; their keyboard-driven music combined with Kimball's soaring vocal and Lukather's slashing guitar arguably bridged the gap between Music/FleetwoodMac and {{Music/Foreigner}}.

That is, until 2019; when inner band turmoil over a lawsuit by Jeff's widow Susan Goings - along with David Paich no longer physically being able to tour anymore - tore the band apart and pushed them towards a hiatus [[note]] their second after a brief one lasting from 2008 to 2010[[/note]]. The lawsuit itself was acrimonious enough that a rift between Lukather and Steve Porcaro developed, thus ending a near ten year run with the Fahrenheit era lineup.