Toto Guitarist Says He Tried to 'Be Friendly' with Rivers Cuomo After Weezer Covered 'Africa' but 'It Just Got Weird'

Mar. 15, 2025

Steve Lukather of Toto in March 2018; Rivers Cuomo of Weezer in February 2023.Photo:Sergione Infuso/Corbis via Getty; Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

Sergione Infuso/Corbis via Getty; Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

Over six years after the “Island in the Sun” band released a cover of “Africa” in response to an internet campaign and subsequently earned their biggest hit in years, Toto guitarist Steve Lukather spoke about the rendition — and his relationship with Cuomo, 54.

Weezer’s “Africa” arrived in 2018 after a 14-year-old fan wrote on social media, “@RiversCuomo it’s about time you bless the rains down in Africa,” prompting the band to record a version of the 1982 hit. The cover ended up charting at No. 51 on theBillboardHot 100 and reaching No. 1 on the publication’s alternative songs chart, proving far more successful than the group likely expected.

However, Lukather, 67, isn’t sure how Cuomo actually feels about “Africa.” In a new interview onMatt Pinfield’s KLOS radio showNew & Approved, the guitar player said, “I don’t know about him loving the song, man.”

“I don’t think that’s the case at all. I think he did it to take the piss out of it, and it blew up in his face and now he’s got to play it every night,” he continued.

Despite Lukather’s attempt at getting to know Cuomo — and potentially finding out his true thoughts on “Africa” — the two rockers didn’t ultimately become close. “I tried to reach out to this guy and be friendly,” he recalled, “and then it just got weird.”

The Toto member added, “I don’t want to get into it, but — peace and love. It was good for them, it was good for us.”

Weezer in June 2017.Tim Mosenfelder/Getty

Weezer’s take on “Africa” appears on the band’s 2019Teal Album, a collection of covers that also features versions of TLC’s “No Scrubs” and A-ha’s “Take on Me,” among other well-known songs.

“I loved it, but I had no idea it was a cover. I just thought it was what Phil Collins does. When we were recording ‘Africa,’ I looked up the story to that cover of ‘You Can’t Hurry Love,’ and he said they just tried to copy it,” added Cuomo. “That really inspired me, so I got all the a capella vocals and very carefully copied the harmonies to get it as accurate as I could.”

source: people.com