Saturday, August 16, 2008

Toto Calls It Quits

"After a period of rumours and some allusions, on June 5th, 2008 Steve Lukather made an official announcement on his website, stating: "The fact is yes I have left Toto. There is no more Toto." Lukather further stated that after 31 years of recording, producing and playing with Toto without even missing one single gig, he couldn't do it anymore: "I just can't do it anymore and at 50 years old I wanted to start over and give it one last try on my own." With Lukather being the only original member left in the band (Bobby Kimball was also an original member, but was out of the band from 1984-1998) there was no other option than to call it quits. As the main motivation for his decision, Lukather said: "When Dave retired that was REAL hard for me 'cause we started the band together. Hell, it's 35 years if you count High School where the core all met. When Mike fell ill and had to leave that was it for me. If there isn't Paich or at least one Porcaro how can we even call it Toto?" Luke also stated: "Honestly, I have just had enough. This is NOT a break. It is over. I really can't go out and play Hold The Line with a straight face anymore." The break-up of Toto after 31 years received mixed reactions from the fans, but in general the decision was understood and many agreed with Lukather's reasons to quit the band.
On April 5th, 2008, Toto played what would be their last show ever, in Seoul, Korea, as a part of their Falling In Between Live tour. This left lots of fans without a real farewell tour."
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While I understand the decision and agree with it 100% I am still saddened by this news. I have been a fan since the 70's. The one regret about this whole thing is that never got to see them live. They played Pensacola Beach once but I wasn't in a position where I could attend. I do, however, have both live DVDs they've released in recent years and I know I can look forward to new music from Lukather.
Man, I am bummed about this.

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