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Toto’s Steve Lukather talks Weezer’s ‘Africa,’ getting the last laugh on critics and more

The guitarist gets candid before their Oct. 24 concert at Ruth Eckerd Hall.
 
Published Oct. 18, 2018

Steve Lukather has heard all the jokes. Heck, he was often the first one telling them.

"Self-deprecation is my game," the Toto guitarist said. "We don't mind if people make fun of us and s— like that. We've had to develop a super-thick skin. We've been beaten up more than any band in history."

But this new thing? The thing that happened this summer, that once again thrust his band of 40 years back into the viral spotlight?

"This thing has come so out of left field to us," he said. "I never could have written this, or planned any of it."

If you don't know what Lukather is talking about, go online. Or just walk outside. There's a decent chance that somewhere off in the distance, you'll hear the drums of Toto's Africa echoing tonight.

How Africa evolved from reviled radio earworm into "a legit standard in popular music," as Lukather has called it, is a mystery. How this summer it became a No. 1 alternative rock hit for Weezer, even more so. And how it is now the enduring legacy of the most important rock band you've spent your whole life making fun of, well, Lukather can't explain that, either.

When it comes to the magic of Africa and Toto, who play Ruth Eckerd Hall Oct. 24 (click here for details), it's probably best not to overthink it. Which might be why the world can't stop doing just that.

"This is the summer of 2018," Lukather said. "Who would have guessed in 1981, when we cut the track, that I'd be having this conversation right now?"

For more of our interview with Toto's Steve Lukather, click here.