25 Date Tour Gets Underway On January 27th In Brussels
2015 has truly been a watershed year for Toto. After a ten year recording hiatus, the band returned with one of their most successful albums ever. TOTO XIV charted all around the world landing in the Top 10 on the charts in nine countries (Germany, Netherlands, Japan, Denmark, Czech Republic, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland). TOTO XIV also became the first new studio album to chart in the US & UK since 1988’s The Seventh One. On top of all that, Toto spent most the year on tour in Europe and North America performing to packed houses.
Toto will return to the road in early 2016 with a new string of shows beginning on January 27th in Brussels. Tour stops are scheduled in France, Italy, Austria, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. The band will also return to Japan for eight dates beginning on March 3rd in Sundai. These will be the first set of dates in Asia for Toto since the release of TOTO XIV. Tickets for most shows go on sale this Friday.
In the new year, Leland Sklar will return as the bassist for Toto, as founding member David Hungate comes off the road. Hungate recently publicly shared, “There’s no place like home, particularly after 4 months on the road. The past two years reunion with Toto has been one of the sweetest experiences, and greatest honors of my life. All good things must come to an end however. I no longer have the stamina and resilience required for extended touring, and I do need to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. Much gratitude to the fans and friends who have supported the band over the years, and to my brothers in Toto… I can never thank you adequately for the music, the laughs and the friendship going back 40 years. Love and happy trails to you all.”
Collectively, Steve Lukather, David Paich, Steve Porcaro and Joseph Williams offer, “We would like to express HUGE love and gratitude to or brother David Hungate for his gifted playing, his amazing professionalism and good humor. It was awesome having you back these last two years and we will cherish the memories. You have not seen the last of us. Stay well brother.”
TOTO XIV is a realized vision three plus decades in the making exhibiting world-class musicianship, masterful arrangements, topical lyrical commentary, and melodies that the collective of Lukather, Paich, Porcaro, Williams and their assembled band-mates bring to life. TOTO XIV is the band’s first album of new material since 2006’s Falling In Between. However, the band personally considers the new album to be the true follow-up to TOTO IV, which made the band global superstars.
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 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.
