Toto guitarist earns Billboard New Artist Album chart topping project
Steve Lukather and The Players Club/Mascot Label Group celebrate an accomplishment Steve Lukather never achieved prior in his solo career. His new studio album Bridges debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s New Artist Album Chart. In his fifth decade as a recording and performing artist, no solo studio album prior accomplished the achievement of a No. 1 on the US charts.
“I could not be more appreciative of the positive sentiments shared and support from fans across North America and the world,” Luke shares. “When we made this album, the aim was simply to create a bridge between my solo work and Toto. To receive the message that Bridges will debut at No. 1 today was simply a mind bender. All these years in, the band has accomplished many milestones but this moment comes within months of ‘I’ll Be Over You’ being certified gold by the RIAA so there is so much to be thankful for considering the on-going love and interest in myself and Toto across globe. To each and every one of you who streamed a track, bought the album, or simply checked out the videos, THANK YOU!”
His ninth solo album, Bridges, could not be more accurately titled. Luke shares, “I see it as a bridge between my solo music and Toto music. The fact that Joseph Williams, David Paich and I wrote most of the record, and the fact I invited many of the old Toto gang to come and play, co-writers like Randy Goodrum and Stan Lynch brings all this together. It also proves that most of my old pals and I are still great friends, and I wanted to do a record ‘in the style of,’ as Toto will never record another studio album. This is as close as we will get.” He continues, “We still love writing and creating and recording together, and we will no doubt continue to work with each other on our respective solo works.”
Bridges presents deep roots and branches from Toto’s family tree. Past and present members contribute on both the writing and performance side. Joseph Williams has writing credits on six of the songs, while David Paich does on four. Williams performs on all recordings contributing background vocals, synths, percussion or keys pending on the track, while Paich plays keyboards on five. Drummer Simon Phillips performed on “Far From Over,” “Not My Kind Of People,” “When I See You Again,” and “Burning Bridges.” While Shannon Forrest returned to play on “Someone,” “All Forevers Must End,” “Take My Love” and “I’ll Never Know.” Both old friend and former member Lee Sklar and Gov’t Mule bassist Jorgen Carlsson perform bass on a couple of tracks, while Luke himself performs on several others. On “Far From Over,” son Trev Lukather performs guitars, bass, background vocals, and synths. Current Toto keyboardist Steve Maggiora co-wrote “Take My Love” and performs all keys alongside singing background vocals on that track.
Toto will appear at a benefit concert staged to support the Ed Asner Family Center in Los Angeles on September 9th at the Orpheum. Luke, Joe and David Paich will join Ringo Starr, Stone Temple Pilots, Colin Hay, Hoobastank and others. On July 10th, Toto begins the band’s first tour of Japan in four years, with the final show approaching capacity at Tokyo’s Budokan on July 21st.
