![\"Steve](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Steve-Lukather-1982-Musician-Toto-Kare-Eide-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ K\u00e5re Eide \/ The National Library)<\/p>\n
Mon 2 March 2026 22:45, UK <\/p>\n
There\u2019s an argument to be made that Toto<\/a> ruined themselves with \u2018Africa\u2019. <\/p>\n The song was a massive hit, bigger than that, really. But now it often overshadows the rest of the band\u2019s catalogue, with many people overlooking their other great tracks and the standout riffs guitarist Steve Lukather wrote.<\/p>\n \u2018Hold The Line\u2019 deserves more attention, and it demands it when you hit play and a piano intro leads you into some truly epic and dirty guitar work from Lukather, who has never quite got his flowers<\/a> as one of the best power players of the time.<\/p>\n However, overwhelmingly, the guitarist is just happy to be there. During an interview with Guitar World, Lukather\u2019s enduring joy and gratitude is a breath of fresh air, as he said, \u201cI never thought in a million years that I\u2019d be playing this when I was a 66-year-old adult,\u201d adding with love, \u201cI\u2019ve enjoyed the ride<\/a>, and man, what a ride it\u2019s been.\u201d <\/p>\n He said, \u201cI gotta laugh at myself; I\u2019m the luckiest motherfucker in the world, man.\u201d<\/p>\n But like all musicians who got to have their teenage years in the golden days of the 1970s, starting their first bands while their idols were still in their prime, Lukather was constantly surrounded by incredible inspiration. Especially as he grew up in Los Angeles<\/a>, the rock world was on his doorstep, and perhaps more than making his own music, merely getting to witness some heroes of music at their very best remains the ultimate joy of his life.\u00a0<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t just that Lukather was getting to dance to tunes on the radio or enjoy the gigs of these great bands, but there was genuinely an almost terrifying sense in the air as, at every turn, someone seemed to be there to completely reinvent the game. Innovations were coming in fast as experimentation was ripe, and for a young player like him, it was just as daunting as it was incredible.<\/p>\n In particular, Lukather remembers staring at Jeff Beck, watching him shred and thinking simply: \u201cMan, this cat\u2019s an alien.\u201d<\/p>\n