TOTO RAMPS UP FOR BUSY 2014
WITH PLANNED STUDIO ALBUM,
UPCOMING DVD/CD RELEASE,
JAPANESE TOUR
AND RUN ACROSS NORTH AMERICA
WITH
CO-HEADLINER MICHAEL MCDONALD
Founding Member And Guitarist
Steve "Luke" Lukather
To Join Ringo Starr at Grammy
Awards And 50th Anniversary Beatles Tribune On CBS
Los
Angeles --- Toto has revealed plans for 2014 that deliver what fans have
been waiting years for. The band will record a new studio album, their
first since Falling In Between (2006). Keyboardist and founding
member David Paich shares, "The repertoire is coming together so naturally
it is as though we never took a break from creating as Toto in the studio. For
the fans who have been waiting patiently and continually showing the band
support and love over the last decade or so, this one's for you. Collectively
we can't wait to share these recordings with The World."
Late-Spring
or Early-Summer, Toto 35th Anniversary: Live In Poland will be
issued via Eagle Rock with configurations that include CD, DVD, Blu-ray and a
deluxe package which will be revealed imminently. Filmed on June 25, 2013
in Lodz, Poland, the offering captures the band in the midst of a
standing-room-only European tour. The two-hour plus performance features the
band's hit stocked repertoire alongside other favorites.
This
April, Toto returns to Japan for a seven show headlining arena tour that takes
them through Nagoya, Osaka, Tokyo, Sendai and Sopporo. The complete
itinerary follows below. In August and September, the band will hit the
road as co-headliners with Michael McDonald, for their most comprehensive North
American tour in years.
This
weekend, guitarist Steve "Luke" Lukather will perform with Ringo
Starr on the Grammy Awards. The following day on Monday the 27th, he will
participate in The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles
(Airing on CBS-TV February 9). Luke offers, "This is full circle for
me. I started playing the guitar the day I saw The Beatles on Ed
Sullivan, and now 50 years later I have been so graciously asked to be a part
of The Grammy Awards with Ringo alongside playing and being a part of the 50th
Anniversary show. I am beyond honored. I am also so excited about the
future of Toto. So many things we have been trying to do have now all
come true. A real USA tour, a new album of some killer new material, a
new live DVD, and a World Tour to follow over the next two years. These
are exciting times for myself and the band."
It
has also been announced that long-time member drummer Simon Phillips will be
departing the band to pursue his solo career and other interests. Luke
shares, "He is still a dear friend and we wish him the very best and
continued success," The band welcomes new addition Keith Carlock (Steely
Dan, Sting, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood). Carlock originally hails from
Clinton, Mississippi, and has collaborated with Luke in the past in the jam
band Toxic Monkey.
Few
ensembles in the history of recorded music have individually or collectively
had a larger imprint on pop culture than the members of Toto. As
individuals, the band members’ imprint can be heard on an astonishing 5000
albums that together amass a sales history of a HALF A BILLION albums.
Amongst these recordings, NARAS applauded the performances with more than 200
Grammy nominations. Band members have been South Park characters, and
Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake recently did a comedy sketch around the
band's hit "Africa." As a band, Toto sold 35 million
albums, and today continue to be a worldwide arena draw staging standing room
only events around the globe. They are pop culture, and are one of the
few 70’s bands that have endured the changing trends and styles, and 35 years
in to a career enjoy a multi-generational fan base.
In
2013, the band's European tour hit 29 cities staging successful concerts
Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, France, Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Poland,
Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland. Toto World Tour 2013 featured Luke,
David Paich, Steve Porcaro on keyboards, and singer Joseph Williams, who sang
the hits "Pamela" and "Stop Loving You" on the worldwide
platinum release The Seventh One (1988). Williams is also
featured on the platinum certified Fahrenheit (1986), Toto XX
(1998), the track "Bottom of Your Soul" on Falling In Between
(2006), and the multi-platinum release Past to Present 1977-1990 issued
in 1990.
With
over 35 years together and thousands of credits and accolades to their names,
Toto remains one of the top selling tour and recording acts in the world.
Collectively and individually, the band has played on nearly every major hit
record of the past quarter century, placing their distinctive stamp of
excellence all over CD shelves around the world. Toto are the benchmark by
which many artists base their sound and production, and they continue to
transcend the standards set by the entire music community, being simply
synonymous with musical credibility.
TOTO
also continues to raise awareness for ALS, for their brother and friend, Mike
Porcaro, who has been diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig's Disease. The band
commits energies towards fundraising for Police and Fire Departments of
California and the Fallen Heroes initiative (http://www.fallenheroes.org/), and help
the United Nations in their humanitarian endeavors through music.
JAPANESE
TOUR DATES
4/23
Nagoya
Shi Kokaido
4/24
Osaka
Festival Hall
4/26
Tokyo
Dome City Hall
4/27
Tokyo
Dome City Hall
4/28
Tokyo
Budokan
4/30
Sendai
Electron Hall
5/02
Sapporo
Bunka Hall
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