Steven Maxwell Porcaro (born September 2, 1957) is an American songwriter, synth keyboardist,[1][2] film & television composer,[3] and founding member of the rock bandToto,[4] which he founded with his brother, drummerJeff Porcaro, and later included their brotherMike Porcaro on bass. He has won threeGrammy Awards, including Record of the Year for "Rosanna" and Album of the Year forToto IV, and three nominations.[5]
In 1967, his father bought him an organ made byRheem. Later his father took him to theGuitar Center to trade in the keyboard for aFarfisa with a Leslie 147 and preamp, which Porcaro called his "first real rig".[11]
In 1978, Columbia Records releasedToto'sself-titled debut. The band would go on to become one of the best-selling bands of the era and achieve successful singles such as "Africa", "Rosanna", and "Hold the Line". Their albumToto IV has been certified quadruple platinum in the United States.[16]
The title of the song "Rosanna" was inspired by Porcaro's then girlfriend, actressRosanna Arquette. Though she did not directly inspire the song's lyrics, her name fit the song pefectly as described by the song's writer,David Paich, on HBO'sMusic Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary.[17]
In 1984, Toto composed music forDavid Lynch'sDune.[18] In 1987, Porcaro left the band to focus on songwriting and scoring. He composed music and arranged orchestration for such film/TV asQuentin Tarantino andRobert Rodriguez'sFrom Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money,Eddie Murphy'sMetro, andJackie Chan'sThe Medallion. He also developed music for the television seriesJustified.[19][20] Porcaro accompanied Toto on their 1988"The Seventh One" world tour as a touring musician and continued working with them in various capacities, assisting with keyboards, drum loops,synthesizers andarranging/composing on all ofToto's albums following his departure. Porcaro wrote, or co-wrote, on each of Toto's first six albums, except forIsolation.
He wrote the song "Human Nature", which appeared onMichael Jackson'sThriller album. The demo of "Human Nature" was sent toQuincy Jones via a cassette tape, which also included a few songs written by Paich. Jones was fielding material from various composers to consider forThriller and elected to present "Human Nature" to Jackson. Porcaro said that he did not intend for Jones to hear his demo of "Human Nature" and explained that he placed the track on the back of the cassette as he lacked any other tapes to store the song.[29][30]
In the early 2010s, he had surgery to remove a benign brain tumor, which resulted in him becoming deaf in his left ear.[31][32]
In 2010, Porcaro returned to play with Toto at live performances when they reformed for a tour in Europe to supportMike Porcaro, who was suffering fromALS.[33][34] He performed on the band's 2015 studio albumToto XIV, co-writing and singing lead on "The Little Things" and co-writing/singing lead on the Japan-only bonus cut, "Bend". When the band dissolved in 2019 and regrouped in 2020, Porcaro did not return.[35]
In 2018, indie rock bandWeezer covered Toto's "Africa", which was prompted by a fan campaign. Porcaro joined the band onstage for a performance onJimmy Kimmel Live!.[36] In 2024, Porcaro appeared onHBO Original documentaryMusic Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary.[37][38]
Steve announced his second solo album,The Very Day, on July 3, 2025. It was released on October 3, 2025. It features many collaborators from his last album.
Steve Porcaro played a huge variety of synthesizers on Toto albums. While David Paich handled piano duties, it was usually Steve's job to complement the music with creative synth sounds. The synth solo in the Toto song "Rosanna" is a noted example of his approach.[44] He was known to use various Yamaha synthesizers, including theCS-80, GS1,DX1, andDX7, as well as others such as theSequential Circuits Prophet-5,Minimoog Model D, Polyfusion Modular,E-mu Emulator,Roland Jupiter-8,Oberheim Xpander, andDynacord Add-one. He also used various keyboards during live performances with the band such as theWurlitzer 200A in 1979 andYamaha CP-70 in 1980, sometimes used for covering the piano parts when David Paich was playing organ or a synthesizer.
In later years, he gravitated towards working with software synthesizers. Onstage in the 2010s, he used two Yamaha keyboards (a Montage 8 and aYamaha Motif XF7) to drive hisApple MainStage-based virtual synth rig,[45] which drew samples from, among others,Logic's ES2 plug-in andSpitfire Audio libraries.[11] He is also a user ofArturia products, and has spoken highly of their synthesizer software, including a demonstration video of the CS-80 V software.[21]
His first daughter, Heather Janine Porcaro, was born on June 8, 1978. She was the child of Porcaro and his then wife Jeanette Mellin. He was married to model Pam Ross from 1998 to 2008. They had two children, Dominic (b. 1999) and Micki (b. 2003).[46]
He collaborated with his daughter Heather Porcaro on her debut album,The Heartstring Symphony, released in 2009. Heather was featured inPaper magazine's "Most Beautiful People" issue in 2002.[47]
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