TOTO是由六位原为洛杉矶录音室乐师合组的一支合唱团。乐队成员中的Jeff Porcaro和Steve Porcaro是兄弟，他们是爵士乐打击乐手Joe Porcaro 的儿子； Paich是他们两兄弟自小即认识的玩伴；其余成员则均曾因为替不同乐手伴奏，而有过不同的相互合作的经验。乐团名称的由来部分源自于主唱Bobby 的原姓Toteaux 的简称，部分原因则取自童话故事"绿野仙踪"里女主角小狗的名字。乐团成立后没多久，即被CBS哥伦比亚唱片公司签为旗下艺人。TOTO的处女专辑一经推出即备受注目，这张同名专辑中的歌曲多出自键盘手Paich 之手，首支单曲"Hold The Line"在单曲榜中登上第五名。TOTO到目前为止最成功的专辑"TOTO Ⅵ"于1983年问市，迅速攀上全美专辑榜第四名，在美销售量更超过了三白金纪录。其中首支单曲"Rosanna"在美国单曲排行榜上蝉连了五周的亚军。TOTO也凭借这张专辑于当年的葛莱美奖评选中大出风头，一举囊括六项大奖，分别是：年度最佳唱片、最佳和声编排、最佳伴奏乐器编曲、年度最佳专辑、最佳录音工程以及年度最佳制作人奖。Toto was formed in Los Angeles in 1978 by David Paich (b. June 21, 1954, Los Angeles; keyboards, vocals), Steve Lukather (b. October 21, 1957, Los Angeles; guitar, vocals), Bobby Kimball (b. Robert Toteaux, March 29, 1947, Vinton, LA; vocals), Steve Porcaro (b. September 2, 1957, Connecticut; keyboards), David Hungate (b. Texas; bass), and Jeff Porcaro (b. April 1, 1954, Hartford, CT; d. August 5, 1992, Hidden Hills, CA; drums). Paich was the son of arranger Marty Paich; the Porcaros were the sons of percussionist Joe Porcaro. The bandmembers had met in high school and at studio sessions in the 1970s, when they became some of the busiest session musicians in the music business. Paich, Hungate, and Jeff Porcaro wrote songs for and performed on Silk Degrees, the multi-million-selling 1976 album that combined pop, rock, and disco elements into a slick combination which heavily influenced mainstream pop music.Toto released its self-titled debut album in October 1978, and it hit the Top Ten, sold two-million copies, and spawned the gold Top Ten single "Hold the Line." The gold-selling Hydra (October 1979) and Turn Back (January 1981) were less successful, but Toto IV (April 1982) was a multi-platinum Top Ten hit, featuring the number-one hit "Africa" and the Top Tens "Rosanna" (about Lukather's girlfriend, movie star Rosanna Arquette) and "I Won't Hold You Back." At the 1982 Grammys, "Rosanna" won awards for Record of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Performance, and Best Instrumental Arrangement With Vocal; and Toto IV won awards for Album of the Year, Best Engineered Recording, and Best Producer (the group). In 1984, a third Porcaro brother, Mike (b. May 29, 1955), joined the group on bass, replacing Hungate. Then lead singer Kimball quit and was replaced by Dennis "Fergie" Frederiksen (b. May 15, 1951, Wyoming, MI).Toto's fifth album, Isolation (November 1984), went gold, but was a commercial disappointment. Frederiksen was replaced by Joseph Williams (b. Santa Monica), the son of the conductor/composer John Williams, for Fahrenheit (August 1986). Steve Porcaro quit in 1988, prior to the release of The Seventh One. In 1990, Jean-Michel Byron replaced Williams for the new recordings on Past to Present 1977-1990, then left, as Lukather became the group's lead singer. Jeff Porcaro died of a heart attack in 1992, but was featured on the group's next album, Kingdom of Desire. By this time, Toto was far more popular in Japan and Europe than at home. The group added British drummer Simon Phillips. Tambu, released in Europe in the late fall of 1995, appeared in the U.S. in June 1996. For 1999's Mindfields, Bobby Kimball returned to the lineup after a 15-year absence. The group members continued to do session work during the band's tenure, contributing significantly to the sound of mainstream pop/rock in the 1970s, '80s, and '90s.