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The Latest Breaking News from Steve Lukather

“I gotta get it on pop radio!” Michael Jackson’s Beat It was “too metal” before Quincy Jones stepped in, claims guitarist

Michael Jackson metal? It almost happened, according to Thriller guitarist Steve Lukather

Metal Hammer

“We’d all heard the myth of Miles Davis – the scary Miles Davis. But he liked us skinny little white boys!”: How the jazz legend ended up on a Toto record

And instead of payment, he grabbed a painting off the band’s drummer

MusicRadar

“We’d be on the phone and he goes, ‘It’s too metal. I gotta get it on pop radio! Use the small amp, not so much distortion’”: Steve Lukather on how Quincy Jones saved Michael Jackson’s Beat It from becoming a metal track

Jackson wanted a rock track for Thriller – and Lukather says Jones had to step in to stop the song from entering fully fledged metal territory

Guitar World

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‘Leave your ego at the door’: from Thriller to Sinatra, Quincy Jones collaborators tell the stories behind his songs

Whether hashing out Beat It over the phone or jamming with Snoop Dogg, artists who worked alongside Jones recall his skill, kindness and lust for life

The Guardian - UK

“He’d be like, ‘Let’s throw Lukather in there.’ The next thing I knew, I’m in a room with Stevie Wonder and all these guys. It was like a childhood dream come true”: Steve Lukather on Quincy Jones’ ability to create “magic” in the studio

"Everyone played their best around Quincy. He commanded the room. Everyone was their extra best for every take”

MusicRadar

“Beat It was interesting. Of course, Eddie Van Halen did the solo. But the rest of the guitars were Steve Lukather and myself...” Session ace Paul Jackson Jr. on how he became Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones’ go-to guitarist

From meeting Michael Jackson at 19, to playing with B.B. King and on Daft Punk’s Get Lucky, his career has thrived on variety – but the session great tells us it starts with your ears, not your hands...

Guitar World

“The Holy Grail of rackmount tube preamps is back”: Soldano revives two highly elusive rack units beloved by Steve Lukather, Peter Frampton and Vivian Campbell for the first time in decades

The X88-IR and SLO-100R reboot two of Soldano's most profound innovations from the late 1980s, and give them improved control and usability for modern players

Guitar World

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“Michael said, ‘I want you to lay something down.’ He puts in a little cassette tape, and he sings the solo and records it”: Session legend Paul Jackson Jr. on working with Michael Jackson – from his Jackson 5 era to Thriller, Beat It and beyond

Jackson Jr. reveals which guitar parts he played on Beat It – which also features the work of Steve Lukather and Eddie Van Halen

Guitar World

“You only have so many great solos in you, don’t give one to Michael Jackson!” Eddie Van Halen recorded his Beat It solo in secret – and his brother is still mad about it 42 years later

Alex Van Halen says Eddie’s legendary appearance on the pop smash was a waste of his finite talents – and the perfect excuse for David Lee Roth to leave the band

Guitar World

“Slash’s wife grabbed hold of the steering wheel because he was heading toward a canyon. We were in the back seat going, ‘Nooo!’” Jamie Moses on the wild ride of playing with Brian May, hanging with Slash and his time as Queen’s second guitarist

After telling his school counselor there was no other life plan than playing guitar, Jamie Moses learned his trade playing in pubs, and says it’s easy for him to work out what gear will work best for any given gig

Guitar World

"A perfect blend of epic songwriting and virtuoso musicianship”: Can you hear the influence of Yes, Genesis and Pink Floyd in Toto’s proggiest moments?

Operating on the cusp of the genre, they’ve provided plenty of evidence over the years that their roots lay in prog

Louder

He’s played with Michael Jackson, Elton John and three of the Beatles, and was a world-class soloist while still in his teens – why Toto guitarist Steve Lukather is one of rock’s greatest players

Lukather's style is a case study in rhythmic variation, chromaticism and on-point phrasing that references the familiar but takes you someplace else

Guitar World

“They asked Billy Gibbons, John Mayer and me. I wish this would make me sound like Jeff Beck, but it won’t”: Steve Lukather confirms Jeff Beck guitar tribute project as he wields his iconic White Strat to cover Jimi Hendrix’s Little Wing

Lukather is one of the first players to use the late guitar great's old instruments as part of an ongoing “musicians’ project to honor Jeff’s legacy” – and many more are expected to follow

Guitar World

“A staple for pro players revered for its rich hybrid sound": Boss brings back a legendary delay loved by Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai and Steve Lukather in its most compact and affordable form yet

The Roland SDE-3000 became a staple for numerous guitar heroes, and now it's been repackaged in a new pedalboard-friendly form that has extra enhancements to boot

Guitar World

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Guitar World

“You can grin and bear your rhythmic role, biding your time until you get to the solo, or you can put some thought, effort, and research into this area of your playing”: 5 blues guitar rhythms every guitarist needs to know

Every guitarist can improve their rhythm game. As Steve Lukather says, “I’ve been paid to play rhythm guitar 90% of the time. It’s harder than it looks”

Guitar World

“With Prince stuff, the parts are easy to play but difficult to play well. His sense of rhythm was incredible”: Ninja Sex Party are one of the biggest, weirdest cover bands on the planet. Guitarist Lord Phobos reveals the secrets to a great cover song

He might speak with a robot voice, but he has a session pro's appreciation of what a track needs to make it pop, and here the TWRP and Ninja Sex Party guitarist explains his approach – and reveals his go-to gear

Guitar World

“I played on about a billion records, and that guitar was on all of them”: Steve Lukather’s Robot Strat is one of the 1980s’ most-heard guitars, and started life as a vintage Fender – before it was modded beyond all recognition

When Lukather appeared on the Sep 1983 issue of GW, he was holding an EMG-loaded Strat that was about to undergo a similar transformation to Alex Murphy in RoboCop. Here is the story of a cult classic

MusicRadar

“I’ll see you there!”: George Benson announces 4-day “musical extravaganza” Breezin' With The Stars, with gigs and workshops featuring Tommy Emmanuel, Lee Ritenour, Steve Lukather and more

Hosted in Phoeniz, AZ, in partnership with Ibanez, Benson's Breezin' With The Stars features concerts, signing sessions, stories from the stars, and Rick Beato as master of ceremonies

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Guitar World

“Thin Lizzy prepared me for Skynyrd. They said, ‘You need to learn these songs note for note.’ I said, ‘I wouldn’t dream of doing it any other way’”: Damon Johnson on having one of rock’s most enviable resumés – and why Eddie Van Halen gifted him a guitar

From touring with Van Halen, to finding his own niche as a blood-and-guts player with some of rock’s biggest names

Guitar World

“Guitarists need to start bands again – we’re a little caught up in the TikTok world where everyone’s on their own”: Trev Lukather on why he loves St. Vincent’s guitars, and the guitar lessons he learned from his dad

The St. Vincent Music Man-toting son of Steve explains why David Gilmour ranks above his favorite shredders, and how Steve Perry agreed to be on The Effect’s latest single

Louder

Steve Perry has rerecorded a Journey deep cut with the sons of Steve Lukather and Phil Collins

Trev Lukather and Nic Collins' new band The Effect have employed the services of former Journey frontman Steve Perry on one of his band's old tunes

Guitar World

“My dad always said, ‘Focus on your rhythm and writing songs.’ But when I got the itch to start doing solos, I got into Eddie Van Halen”: Trev Lukather on the guitar lessons he learned from his dad, Steve Lukather

The Toto great advised his son to sharpen up a certain aspect of his playing – but then EVH, Neal Schon and David Gilmour entered the picture

Guitar World

Martin Miller literally wrote the book on Modern Rock Guitar Soloing – so who better to show you how to get more from your minor pentatonic and blues solos?

The German guitarist, composer, producer, educator and Ibanez signature artist shows you how to navigate a blues-pop ballad, with licks inspired by Steve Lukather, David Gilmour and Joe Bonamassa

Guitar World

“The initial thought was, ‘What the hell am I gonna play?’ There are so many players on this track, and so much is going on, but they just let me be me”: Steve Lukather takes you behind the scenes of Mark Knopfler’s Guitar Heroes

Going Home is the all-star charity guitar track of the year, with Knopfler recruiting over 50 players to the cause. Toto legend Steve Lukather reflects on making a little bit of music history

Louder

“I’m happy we’ve had hits. But I do wish the record label had put out some of our challenging songs as singles”: Some only know them as ‘That Africa band,’ but how prog are Toto?

They were inspired by prog heavyweights and their records have always contained surprising depth

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