56 Facts About Steve Lukather

Steven Lee Lukather was born on October 21,1957 and is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto.

Steve Lukather has contributed to albums and hit singles as a songwriter, arranger and producer.

Notably, Lukather played guitar on Boz Scaggs' albums Down Two Then Left and Middle Man, and was a prominent contributor to several studio albums by Michael Jackson, including Thriller.

Steve Lukather has released eight solo albums, the latest of which, I Found the Sun Again, was released in February 2021.

Steve Lukather is recognized for his efficiency in the studio, often recording tracks in one take using minimal sound processing.

Steve Lukather plays primarily a signature electric guitar manufactured by Ernie Ball Music Man bearing his nickname, Luke.

Steven Lee Lukather was born on October 21,1957, in the San Fernando Valley, California.

Steve Lukather's father was an assistant director and production manager at Paramount Studios, and worked on shows such as The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and I Dream of Jeannie.

Steve Lukather first played keyboards and drums, and then taught himself how to play the guitar starting at age seven, when his father bought him a Kay acoustic guitar and a copy of the Beatles album Meet the Beatles.

Steve Lukather has said that the album "changed his life" and that he was greatly influenced by the guitar playing of George Harrison in particular.

At Grant High School, Lukather met David Paich and the Porcaro brothers, all of whom eventually became members of Toto.

Steve Lukather, who had been a self-taught musician, began taking guitar lessons from Jimmy Wyble.

Jeff Porcaro, who had been playing drums with Steely Dan since 1973, became a mentor to Steve Lukather and nurtured his interest in session work.

Steve Lukather is the original lead guitarist for Toto, serving in that capacity for the band's entire history, as well as composer and lead and backing vocalist.

Steve Lukather won three of his five Grammy Awards for work with Toto, twice as an artist and once as a producer.

Steve Lukather performed lead vocals for every track on 1992's Kingdom of Desire and 1995's Tambu except for two instrumental tracks.

Steve Lukather admitted that the reason why he has no songwriting contributions on the first two Toto albums was that he wasn't writing many songs at the time, being intimidated by the talent of the band's chief songwriter, David Paich.

Steve Lukather wrote very few of Toto's songs by himself, an exception being the hit single "I Won't Hold You Back" from Toto IV.

Steve Lukather has said that writing lyrics is not one of his strengths.

The band toured in celebration of its 40th anniversary from 2016 to 2019, when Steve Lukather announced an indefinite hiatus.

Steve Lukather achieved notability in the 1970s and 1980s as one of the most sought-after session guitarists in Los Angeles, playing with a wide range of artists from Aretha Franklin to Warren Zevon.

Steve Lukather won a Grammy award in 1982 for the George Benson song "Turn Your Love Around".

Steve Lukather has released eight solo studio albums: Steve Lukather, Candyman, Luke, Santamental, Ever Changing Times, All's Well That Ends Well, Transition and I Found the Sun Again.

Steve Lukather recorded the album in mostly live takes with little overdubbing.

Steve Lukather describes 1997's Luke as a much different and more "introspective" album than his previous two solo efforts.

Steve Lukather wanted him to do the record knowing he would approach the project with a unique angle and produce something different from the typical Christmas album.

Steve Lukather recruited keyboardist Jeff Babko and guitarist Larry Carlton, who Steve Lukather had worked with previously, to help arrange the songs.

The project was a challenge to Steve Lukather, who had to be creative to turn the traditionally simple songs into something interesting for listeners without altering the fundamental structures.

The musicians Steve Lukather chose for Santamental, most of whom were involved in the hard-rock genre, lent a heavy feel to the album.

Steve Lukather spoke highly of Slash after the project, calling him the "Keith Richards of our generation".

Santamental was recorded in six days, after which Steve Lukather proclaimed it "his first and last Christmas album".

Ever Changing Times, released on February 22,2008, is a collection of songs Steve Lukather recorded in 2007 between Toto tours.

Steve Lukather wrote the songs for the album in a hotel room with his son and a handful of other musicians, using basic equipment.

Steve Lukather described the final tracks as "perfectly imperfect", preferring to record with the five-piece backing band in one room and in one take.

Steve Lukather commented that MacMillan served as a valuable "second set of ears" in the studio, often encouraging him to keep parts that he normally would have discarded.

Steve Lukather describes the album as being a "real" and "honest" reflection of the period between 2008 and 2010, when he experienced difficulties within his private life.

In December 2011, Steve Lukather announced the beginning of work on Transition.

Steve Lukather was a long-time member of the band Los Lobotomys, a collaboration of session musicians including jazz and be-bop player David "Creatchy" Garfield and Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro, replaced after his death by Simon Phillips, who replaced Porcaro in Toto.

In 1998, Steve Lukather received an invitation to tour Japan with fellow guitarist Larry Carlton after Japanese promoters requested that Carlton's annual tours each be different from the last.

Steve Lukather was flattered by the invitation to tour with Carlton, citing him as his favorite guitarist.

Steve Lukather speaks highly of their stage efforts, although the two were admittedly outside their normal realm of work.

Guitarist and producer Steve Lukather Vai heard one of the subsequent recordings and expressed interest in releasing it under his Favored Nations label, home to such artists as Eric Johnson and Dweezil Zappa.

Album reviewers described Steve Lukather as having a heavier style than Carlton.

In 2005, Steve Lukather won critical praise for his rendition of the Jimi Hendrix song "Little Wing" at a gala 90th birthday celebration for jazz guitarist Les Paul.

In February 2012, Ringo Starr announced that Steve Lukather would be the guitarist in his All Starr Band for their summer tour.

Steve Lukather has been touring with that ensemble since that time, performing three Toto songs nightly.

Steve Lukather contributes material and expertise to instructional and educational enterprises.

Steve Lukather has periodically performed with a side band named Nerve Bundle at The Baked Potato in Studio City, CA around Christmas time.

Steve Lukather has stated that dynamics are the most important element of producing a recording with good sound quality.

Steve Lukather has held a long association with Bob Bradshaw of Custom Audio Electronics, who designed and manufactured key elements of Lukather's effects rack.

Steve Lukather was one of the few official endorsers of EMG pickups, having collaborated on his own Steve Lukather signature "SL20" pickup system, which is in essence a "loaded pickguard" system incorporating two single-coil EMG SLV pickups and an EMG 85 humbucker.

In December 2012, Steve Lukather collaborated with DiMarzio pickups on a new set of signature pickups called "Transition".

Steve Lukather has been using these pickups in his Music-Man Luke3 guitar.

Steve Lukather endorses Music Man guitars and has a signature model named "Luke" that incorporated his signature EMG pickup system.

In 2013 Steve Lukather changed to a roasted maple neck with a rosewood fret board, citing the exceptional stability of roasted maple while touring as a factor in his decision.

Steve Lukather has been known to play Ibanez and Valley Arts guitars.