Joseph Williams | |
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Born | Joseph Stanley Williams September 1, 1960 Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
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Spouse | Amye Troyer (m. 1992) |
Children | 3 |
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Years active | 1982–present |
Member of | Toto Signature |
Website | https://joeswill.com/ |
Joseph Stanley Williams (born September 1, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter and film score composer, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Toto from 1986 to 1988 and again since 2010. Williams is a son of actress Barbara Ruick and prolific film composer John Williams. [1] Outside of Toto, he has worked as a composer and studio vocalist, including providing the singing voice of adult Simba in the 1994 animated film The Lion King .
Williams was the lead vocalist for Toto during the mid- to late 1980s and was featured on the albums Fahrenheit (1986) and The Seventh One (1988) before leaving due to personal problems. He can also be heard on the album Toto XX (1998), a compilation of rare and unreleased tracks. He is featured on Toto's 2006 album, Falling in Between , sharing lead vocals with Steve Lukather on "Bottom of Your Soul". In addition to his guest spot on Falling in Between, Williams was a guest singer at several Toto concerts.
Williams rejoined Toto upon its reformation in 2010 and performed on the band's recent live albums and the 2015 studio album Toto XIV . When the group disbanded in 2019 and subsequently reformed in 2020, Williams was the only member from the previous lineup besides Lukather and touring members Warren Ham and Dominique "Xavier" Taplin to return.
Williams released his first, self-titled solo album in 1982. After his initial tenure with Toto, he has released several more. Many of Toto's members have contributed to his solo work over the years. In 2003, he released an album called Vertigo, a project he initiated, but where he was not in full charge of the production, only recording and supplying the vocals. [2] The second Vertigo album, Vertigo 2, was released in 2006. Williams released an album of cover songs from artists such as Elton John, Bryan Adams, Diane Warren, and Kevin Cronin in 2006 called Two of Us, featuring piano and voice only. He returned with two more voice and piano albums in 2007, Smiles and Tears, also consisting of classic hits by popular artists. His latest solo album containing original songs, This Fall, was released in November 2008.
Joseph Williams has also been busy as a composer of film and drama scores, most notably for episodes of the science fiction series Roswell , and The Lyon's Den starring Rob Lowe.
He was the writer of the original English lyrics for the songs "Lapti Nek" and "Ewok Celebration" from the original 1983 release of Return of the Jedi , which was scored and conducted by his father, John Williams. [3] Both songs were replaced with new compositions in the 1997 Special Edition. [4] He collaborated again with his father on the releases of 1999's The Phantom Menace and the 2002's Attack of the Clones. In the former he helped compose Augie's Great Municipal Band which appears during the ending of the film and in the latter 2M4, an untitled composition that appears during the Dex's Diner sequence.
In 2003, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Main Title Theme Music" for the TV series Miracles . [2] The music to the CBS miniseries Category 7: The End of the World [5] and the TV film Momentum [6] were composed by him.
Williams has been in demand as a session vocalist and can be heard on numerous projects by other artists, as well as on movie soundtracks. In 1985 he sang the vocals for the theme song of the animated TV series Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears. [7] He provided backing vocals on Peter Cetera's album World Falling Down and co-wrote the song "Man in Me", lead vocals for three tracks – "Walk the Wire", "History" and "When You Look in My Eyes" – to Jay Graydon's Airplay for the Planet album, subsequently touring with the band and backing vocals on Jon Anderson's In the City of Angels in 1988, most prominently on the song "Top of the World (The Glass Bead Game)". In Disney's animated feature film The Lion King , he can be heard as the singing voice of the Adult Simba, singing on the songs "Hakuna Matata" and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight". He reprised this singing role in the direct-to-video animated film Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse . In 1997 and 1998 respectively, he shared vocal duties on two albums by the a cappella covers group The West Coast All Stars, the other vocalists being Bobby Kimball, Bill Champlin and Jason Scheff, whereas Tommy Funderburk replaced Champlin on the Naturally album. He sings background vocals on Chicago's "King of Might Have Been" on the 2006 album Chicago XXX as well as on "Let's Take a Lifetime" on the 1993-recorded/2008-released album Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus . The song "What You're Missing" from the Chicago album Chicago 16 was co-written by him. [8] He also sings backing vocals on five tracks from Steve Lukather's solo album Ever Changing Times in addition to lending his vocals to another three of Lukather's solo albums, All's Well That Ends Well , I Found the Sun Again and Bridges .
David Frank Paich is an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter, best known as the co-founder, principal songwriter, keyboardist, and secondary vocalist of the rock band Toto since 1977. He wrote or co-wrote much of Toto's original material, including the band's three most popular songs: "Hold the Line", "Rosanna", and "Africa". With Toto, Paich has contributed to 17 albums and sold over 40 million records. He and guitarist and singer Steve Lukather are the only members to appear on every studio album.
Steven Lee "Luke" Lukather is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to a steady flow of session work beginning in the 1970s that has since established him as a prolific session musician, recording guitar tracks for more than 1,500 albums spanning a broad array of artists and genres. He has also contributed to albums and hit singles as a songwriter, arranger and producer. Notably, Lukather played guitar on Boz Scaggs' albums Down Two Then Left (1977) and Middle Man (1980), and was a prominent contributor to several studio albums by Michael Jackson, including Thriller (1982). Lukather has released nine solo albums, the latest of which, Bridges, was released in June 2023.
Toto, stylized as TOTO, is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1977. Toto combines elements of pop, rock, soul, funk, hard rock, R&B, blues, and jazz. Having released 14 studio albums and sold over 40 million records worldwide, the group has received several Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2009.
Kingdom of Desire is the eighth studio album by Toto, released in 1992. It is the first album on which guitarist Steve Lukather assumed sole lead vocal duties and the final album to feature drummer Jeff Porcaro, who died during rehearsals for the tour promoting this album, and the last album which involved all the Porcaro brothers together. The album was mixed by Bob Clearmountain and dedicated to Jeff in his memory.
Isolation is the fifth studio album by American rock band Toto, released in November 1984. Isolation is the first album to feature longtime bassist Mike Porcaro, the only album with Fergie Frederiksen as the primary vocalist, and the first time that all of the Porcaro brothers involved together on Toto record. Isolation failed to achieve the popularity of its predecessor, Toto IV, although it achieved gold record status and gave the band their highest charting mainstream rock single "Stranger in Town". Relatively few songs from this album were featured in live performances after 1985's Isolation World Tour.
Fahrenheit is the sixth studio album by American rock band Toto, released on 20 August 1986, by Columbia Records. It was the first album to feature Joseph Williams on lead vocals, after Fergie Frederiksen, the band's previous vocalist, was fired following the culmination of the Isolation tour. Additionally, it was the last album to include keyboardist Steve Porcaro as a permanent member.
William Bradford Champlin is an American singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter. He formed the band Sons of Champlin in 1965, which still performs today, and was a member of the rock band Chicago from 1981 to 2009. He performed lead vocals on three of Chicago's biggest hits of the 1980s, 1984's "Hard Habit to Break" and 1988's "Look Away" and "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love". During live shows, he sang the lower, baritone, vocal parts originally performed by founding guitarist Terry Kath, who had died in 1978. He has won multiple Grammy Awards for songwriting.
Falling in Between is the twelfth studio album by American rock band, Toto. The album was released in Europe on February 14, 2006 on the Italian label Frontiers Records, and in the United States on April 18, 2006. The album contained its only single Bottom Of Your Soul, which had a summer edition. The band supported the album with a world tour. It was the band's first studio release since Through the Looking Glass in 2002, the last one with lead vocalist Bobby Kimball and the only one with keyboardist/vocalist Greg Phillinganes. Phillinganes originally began playing with Toto as a touring replacement for David Paich, who had retired from the road. Another Porcaro brother, Steve, continues to work in the studio with the band, though he also retired from touring following the Fahrenheit album in 1987. Similarly, Lenny Castro has never been a member of the group, but has consistently contributed to their recordings since their first album in 1978. This is also the band's last studio album to feature bassist Mike Porcaro and drummer Simon Phillips; Porcaro retired from touring in the following year due to symptoms of ALS taking away the use of his hands and died in 2015. Phillips left the band in 2014 to focus on his solo career.
Robert Troy Kimball is an American retired singer and songwriter best known as longtime frontman of the rock band Toto from 1977 to 1984 and again from 1998 to 2008. Kimball has also performed as a solo artist and session singer.
Jean-Michel Byron is a South African-born funk and rock vocalist. The singer-songwriter is best known for serving for a time as the lead vocalist for the rock band Toto for new material on their first greatest hits album, Past to Present, as well as the band's Greatest Hits Live...and More project. Byron was the fourth frontman in the band's history, replacing Joseph Williams after Williams had suffered from voice issues due to intense touring as well as drug abuse. The South African singer was pushed heavily by the group's record label. The line-up change divided Toto's band-members, yet key group member Jeff Porcaro expressed support at first. His tenure with the band ended up being both brief and highly controversial with fans. In more recent years, Byron has collaborated with the jazz fusion group Michael Sanders & the One Tribe Nation.
25th Anniversary: Live in Amsterdam is a live album by Toto, released in 2003, in the 25th anniversary of the band. And this was also the band's last live album to feature keyboardist/vocalist David Paich and bassist Mike Porcaro; Paich, before his semi-retirement from touring in 2005 until his return to the band in 2010 with Greg Phillinganes taking his place, and Porcaro, before his retirement from touring due to him being diagnosed with ALS four years later and his death on March 15, 2015.
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi is the film score to the 1983 film Return of the Jedi, composed and conducted by John Williams and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. The score was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London between January and February 1983. Again, John Williams served as producer. Herbert W. Spencer, Thomas Newman and Gordon Langford served as orchestrators. Engineer Eric Tomlinson, music editor Kenneth Wannberg, and record supervisor Lionel Newman again reprised their respective duties. The score earned another Academy Award nomination for Williams. Return of the Jedi, which is the original trilogy's shortest score, was only released on a single-LP instead of a double-set like the Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back soundtracks before it.
The Seventh One is the seventh studio album by the American rock band Toto. It was released on February 8, 1988, and became the best-received Toto album since Toto IV. The title track, "The Seventh One", is featured only on the Japanese version of the album and on the B-side of the single "Pamela". It was also released on some compilations on a later date. It would be their second and last studio album with lead vocalist Joseph Williams until Toto XIV (2015).
Toto XX: 1977–1997 is a compilation album by Toto to celebrate their 20th anniversary. The album features rare original demos, outtakes, previously unreleased recordings and live tracks from the band's 20-year career. Despite its being labeled as a compilation album, Steve Lukather in 2014 defined the album as the tenth studio album overall.
"Stop Loving You" is a song from the rock band Toto from their album The Seventh One. It was released as the first single from the album in Europe, peaking at No. 2 in The Netherlands and Belgium. Jon Anderson is featured on backing vocals.
Falling in Between Live is the fourth live album by American band Toto, released in 2007. It was recorded live at Le Zénith, Paris, France.
Tamara Champlin is an American singer-songwriter who started her career as a session singer in Houston, Texas, later moving to Los Angeles. She has performed with and written for singers such as Elton John, Leon Russell, Nicky Hopkins, Steve Lukather, Andreas Carlsson, husband Bill Champlin, and son Will Champlin.
"Holy War" is a song by the American rock band Toto. It was released as the second single from the band's 2015 album, Toto XIV. Joseph Williams and Steve Lukather share lead vocals on the song and co-wrote it with Jeffery CJ Vanston.
I Found the Sun Again is the eighth studio album by Steve Lukather, released by The Players Club. It was released on February 26, 2021, the same day as his bandmate from Toto, Joseph Williams, released his album Denizen Tenant under the same label.