{"id":147911,"date":"2025-02-03T21:58:14","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T21:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/03\/toto-star-recalls-how-cocaine-overtook-l-a-during-70s-heyday\/"},"modified":"2025-02-03T21:58:14","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T21:58:14","slug":"toto-star-recalls-how-cocaine-overtook-l-a-during-70s-heyday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/03\/toto-star-recalls-how-cocaine-overtook-l-a-during-70s-heyday\/","title":{"rendered":"Toto Star Recalls How Cocaine \u2018Overtook\u2019 L.A. During ’70s Heyday"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n Steve Lukather.<\/span> Iwi Onodera\/Redferns<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Legendary Toto guitarist Steve Lukather<\/strong> is looking back on how cocaine took hold of the Los Angeles rock music scene in the 1970s.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was unbelievable how [cocaine] overtook the city,\u201d Lukather told The Telegraph<\/em><\/a> in an interview published Friday, January 31. \u201cI didn\u2019t even realize what was going on. I didn\u2019t realize why there were five guys in the bathroom stall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toto have been touched by drug-related issues through their near 50-year career, in which they scored a No. 1 hit with the iconic \u201980s power-ballad \u201cAfrica\u201d<\/a> and won three Grammy Awards<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Toto drummer and songwriter Jeff Porcaro<\/strong> died in 1992<\/a> from a heart attack resulting from coronary disease associated with cocaine use, though Lukather disputed the details surrounding his bandmate\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

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Jim Shea\/Michael Ochs Archives\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the time of Porcaro\u2019s death, Toto\u2019s manager suggested that the drummer may actually have died from an allergic reaction to inhaling pesticides while gardening.<\/p>\n

In this new interview, Lukather admitted that he initially \u201cdidn\u2019t understand\u201d how destructive the drug was for his musical community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d walk into the bathroom to take a leak and there\u2019s all these guys in the stall. \u2018Hey, what the f\u2014 are you guys doing in there?\u2019 \u2018Nothing man, nothing kid,\u2019\u201d he recalled before mimicking a snort.<\/p>\n

While Lukather maintains that he avoided drugs during Toto\u2019s rise to the top of the rock world, he said he eventually succumbed to its influence.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne night, 2 in the morning, I\u2019m going, \u2018I\u2019ve got a 10 a.m. [session], how am I f\u2014 going to get through this?\u2019\u201d he remembered. \u201cSome guy goes, \u2018Come here man, have some of this\u2019.\u2019 And I go, \u2018Oh man, it\u2019s drug s\u2014\u2019 \u2026 but they sold me the whole lot. They sold us all the lies: it\u2019s not addictive, it\u2019s better than coffee, it\u2019s no problem. And all my heroes were doing it so I said, \u2018OK.\u2019 And it started out fine \u2026 but it got bad because it just turned into this weird dark thing. It became cloak and dagger s\u2014. [People said], \u2018No, I don\u2019t have anything.\u2019 It was the addiction thing that people lied to us about.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Related: <\/span>Kevin Costner Recalls 1st Time He Tried Cocaine<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tKevin Costner doesn\u2019t have a reputation as a party guy, but there was apparently a moment early in his career when his path could have taken quite a turn. Costner, 69, opened up about his early days in Hollywood during the Monday, June 3, episode of Dax Shepard\u2019s \u201cArmchair Expert\u201d podcast, detailing his first \u2014 [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The guitarist and acclaimed session musician stressed that he now has a very different outlook on life than when drugs were rampant in the rock scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven in your youth, you just don\u2019t know how long you have left,\u201d he said. \u201cI mean, today could be my last day. I could go tonight. I\u2019m at an age now where every day above ground is a bonus. I\u2019m 67 years old, man. I haven\u2019t had a drink or a smoke for going on 16 years but I did it pretty good back in the day. I was hanging out wherever I went.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lukather went on: \u201cNo matter where you are, people would say, \u2018Oh, yeah, come on, we\u2019ll meet you at the bar.\u2019 It\u2019s really easy to get to the point where that\u2019s your everyday life. And it starts out harmless and nice, like it does when you\u2019re young, and then suddenly you\u2019re 50 and you\u2019re going, \u2018I can\u2019t do this any more.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Lukather continues to lead Toto after nearly half a century, having been a driving creative force behind their estimated 50 million records sold worldwide.<\/p>\n

Toto\u2019s track \u201cAfrica\u201d has been streamed more than 2 billion times on Spotify<\/a>, with the band attracting more than 24 million monthly streams on the service for their wider catalog.<\/p>\n

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