STEVE LUKATHER ABOUT RINGO STARR AND HIS ALL STARR BAND

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STEVE LUKATHER ABOUT RINGO AND HIS ALL STARR BAND

By Jim Clash

Publiced Dec 03, 2025

Toto Guitarist Steve Lukather, who also plays in Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, knows lots of musicians. Here he remembers his friendships with Eddie Van Halen and Jeff Beck.

(MANDATORY CREDIT Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images) Steve Lukather live at Rock In Karuizawa 1986 with Jeff Beck, Carlos Santana, Nagano, July 1, 1986. (Photo by Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images)

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In Part 1 and Part 2 of this interview series with Toto guitarist Steve Lukather , we covered his thoughts on playing guitar in Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.

In Part 3, learn a bit more about Ringo.  Following are edited excerpts from a longer conversation.

LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 19, 2014: Guitarist Steve Lukather (L) and Ringo Starr perform onstage at The Greek Theatre. (Photo by Paul R. Giunta/Getty Images)

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Jim Clash: Let's start with your take on recording in the studio versus say, playing a live gig.

Steve Lukather: When you're playing live, the song has already been produced so you know exactly how it's going to go. You just need to learn how to do it right. In the studio, it's all precision and creativity.

When you're creating from nothing but a piece of paper that has E, G, A-minor, F, G-major-seventh, etc., you need to have an arranger's ears and not just play the chords - that would be boring. You have to find little things like where to put an arpeggio, something that adds to the end of a phrase that the artist wouldn't think of but isn't hokey. If you do that consistently, people in the business notice, and you get called back for other studio work. We all have ears for stuff like that.

Now we explore his tenure with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.

Jim Clash: Let's start with your long-time involvement with Ringo Starr's all-star band.

Steve Lukather: I'm heading into my 14th year now. It's the greatest gig in the world. Ringo is a dear friend. We live close by and hang out. He came over to the house for my birthday. He called me on Thanksgiving. If you would have told me that, when I was 10 years old Ringo will be a close friend when I was 68, I would have said, "C'mon man," like I would be the first man on Venus [laughs].

I've had a chance to work with Paul and George, but Ringo was my last Beatle. When I saw the band on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, my life went from black and white to color, the Wizard Of Oz. I said to myself, I have to do that, be George, make that twangy sound like his solo in, "I Saw Her Standing There." I got to tell George the whole story later when I met him [laughs]. We hung out for a few years, then sadly you know what happened.

I've had an extraordinary life I'm grateful for. I've done things that nobody even believes when I say them out loud. It's not lost on me. I'm not jaded. I shake my head and think, "Did I really do all of that?"

Clash: We touched upon Ringo earlier. What’s it been like playing in his band for the last dozen years?

Lukather: I adore the man. Yeah, he's a Beatle. At first, you're like, "Holy crap, this is Ringo from The Beatles." You can't help it when you're around these guys. After chilling and becoming friends, though, some of that wears off. But there's always a respect that I will never lose. I'm siting there with friends, and all of a sudden I get a FaceTime from Ringo. "Damn, really?" [laughs]. Sometimes, I can't believe it myself.

PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 04, 2024: Ringo Starr attends the Stella McCartney Womenswear Fall/Winter 2024-2025 show as part of Paris Fashion Week. (Photo by Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images)

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Clash: How does Ringo choose which musicians he rotates into the group year-in and year-out?

Lukather: It used to be more of a rotation. At this point in Ringo's life, he chooses a group of people more on a friendship level. He has fun. He knows it's easy for him. I mean, the cat's going to be 86 and still wants to go on the road [laughs]. He's a human anomaly. And there's his wife Barbara [Bach]. She looks as beautiful as ever. They've got a groovy family, man. It's a joy to be around them.