Joseph Stanley Williams (born September 1, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter and film score composer, best known for his work in the rock band

Toto Toto may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters Pets * Toto (Oz), Toto (''Oz''), a dog in the novel and film ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' * Toto, in Japanese ''The Cat Returns#Plot, The Cat Returns'' Characters of agency * a ...

, which he fronted as lead vocalist from 1986 to 1988, 2010 to 2019 and again since 2020. He is a son of film composer

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

and actress Barbara Ruick and a grandson of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

drummer Johnny Williams and actors

Melville Ruick Melville Ruick (July 8, 1898 – December 24, 1972) was an American actor. Early years Ruick was born in Boise, Idaho in 1898. His father was a U.S. district attorney in Idaho, and Ruick studied law at the University of California. Milit ...

and

Lurene Tuttle Lurene Tuttle (August 29, 1907 – May 28, 1986) was an American actress and acting coach, who made the transition from vaudeville to radio, and later films and television. Her most enduring impact was as one of network radio's more versatile a ...

Career

Toto

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 ''The Seventh One'' is the seventh studio album by the American rock band Toto. It was released in 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 th ...

'' (1988) before leaving due to personal problems. He can also be heard on the album ''

Toto XX ''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. The first single releas ...

'' (1998), a compilation of rare and unreleased tracks. He is featured on Toto's 2006 album, ''

Falling in Between ''Falling in Between'' is the twelfth studio album (though counted as the 13th album overall — see ''Toto XIV'') by American rock band, Toto. The album was released in February 2006 on the Italian label Frontiers Records, the band supporting th ...

'', sharing lead vocals with

Steve Lukather Steven Lee Lukather (born October 21, 1957) 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 stea ...

on "

Bottom of Your Soul "Bottom of Your Soul" is a song by the American pop/rock band Toto. There were two pressings of the single: one with two renditions of the title track while the other was a 4-track summer 2006 edition. It failed to make the charts in either th ...

". 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 ''Toto XIV'' is the thirteenth studio album by the American rock band Toto (though the band's fourteenth album overall, when one counts either ''Toto XX'' or the ''Dune'' soundtrack). Toto released the album on March 20, 2015. It is the band's f ...

''. 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.

Solo work as a singer

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. The second Vertigo album, ''Vertigo 2'', was released in 2006. Williams released an album of cover songs from renowned artists such as

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

, Bryan Adams,

Diane Warren Diane Eve Warren (born September 7, 1956) is an American songwriter. She has received several awards including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three ''Billboard'' Music Awards and an Honorary Academy Award. Wa ...

, 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.

Work as a film composer

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 The Max Rebo Band is a fictional Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien pop music band in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, first appearing in the 1983 film ''Return of the Jedi'' as in-house performers for crime lord Jabba the Hutt. The lineup original ...

" and "

Ewok Celebration "Ewok Celebration", known commonly as "Yub Nub", is a 1983 song that appears in the end of the ''Star Wars'' film ''Return of the Jedi'', during the celebration of the Ewoks on Endor with members of the Rebel Alliance after the destruction of the ...

" from the original 1983 release of '' Return of the Jedi'', which was scored and conducted by his father,

. Both songs were replaced with other compositions in the 1997 Special Edition. He collaborated again with his father on the releases of 1999's The Phantom Menace and the 2002's

Attack of the Clones Attack may refer to: Warfare and combat * Offensive (military) * Charge (warfare) * Attack (fencing) * Strike (attack) * Attack (computing) * Attack aircraft Books and publishing * ''The Attack'' (novel), a book * '' Attack No. 1'', comic ...

. 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 The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for "Outstanding Main Title Theme Music" for the TV series '' Miracles''. The music to the CBS

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

'' Category 7: The End of the World'' and the TV film ''

Momentum In Newtonian mechanics, momentum (more specifically linear momentum or translational momentum) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. If is an object's mass an ...

'' were composed by him.

Session work

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 ''Adventures of the Gummi Bears'' is an American animated television series, created by Disney CEO Michael Eisner, produced by Walt Disney Television Animation, and distributed by Buena Vista Television. The series, loosely inspired by the gummy ...

. He provided backing vocals on Peter Cetera's album ''

World Falling Down ''World Falling Down'' is the fourth solo album for music artist Peter Cetera, released in July 1992, and his third album since leaving the group Chicago. The making of ''World Falling Down'' Released four years after his previous album, '' One ...

'' 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 Jay Joseph Graydon (born October 8, 1949, Burbank, California) is an American songwriter, recording artist, guitarist, singer, keyboardist, producer, arranger, and recording engineer. He is the winner of two Grammy Awards (in the R&B category) wi ...

's ''Airplay for the Planet'' album, subsequently touring with the band and backing vocals on

Jon Anderson John Roy Anderson (born 25 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire. He was a member of the band across thre ...

's ''

In the City of Angels ''In the City of Angels'' is the fifth solo album by Yes lead singer Jon Anderson, released in 1988. Unlike most of Anderson's previous solo works, this album contains many additional songwriters. Consequently, it is the most straight-ahead c ...

'' in 1988, most prominently on the song "Top of the World (The Glass Bead Game)". In

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

's animated feature film ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance, it ...

'', 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 ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

covers group The West Coast All Stars, the other vocalists being

Bobby Kimball Robert Troy Kimball (born March 29, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter best known as the original and 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 ...

, Bill Champlin and

Jason Scheff Jason Randolph Scheff (born April 16, 1962) is an American bassist, singer, and songwriter. From 1985 to 2016, he was the bassist and one of the lead vocalists for the rock band Chicago; he is the longest-serving member in the bassist/vocalist p ...

, whereas Tommy Funderburk replaced Champlin on the ''Naturally'' album. He sings background vocals on

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

's "King of Might Have Been" on the 2006 album ''

Chicago XXX ''Chicago XXX'' is the twentieth studio album, and thirtieth album overall, by the American band Chicago, released on March 21, 2006. It was Chicago's first album of entirely new material since 1991's '' Twenty 1''. Background The album was ...

'' 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 ''Chicago 16'' is the thirteenth studio album by the American band Chicago, released on June 7, 1982. It is considered their "comeback" album because it was their first album to go platinum since 1978's ''Hot Streets.'' It made it into the ''Bi ...

'' was co-written by him. He also sings backing vocals on five tracks from Steve Lukather's solo album ''

Ever Changing Times ''Ever Changing Times'' is the fifth studio album by Steve Lukather. It was his first album since leaving Toto. In March 2008, a site was launched in order to promote the album. According to Lukather, the album shows a lot of his influences and m ...

'' in addition to lending his vocals to another of Lukather's solo albums, ''

All's Well That Ends Well ''All's Well That Ends Well'' is a play by William Shakespeare, published in the ''First Folio'' in 1623, where it is listed among the comedies. There is a debate regarding the dating of the composition of the play, with possible dates rangin ...

''.

Discography

Toto albums

*1986: '' Fahrenheit'' *1988: ''

'' *1998: ''

'' (lead vocals on "Last Night" and “In A Word”) *2006: ''

'' (co-lead vocals on "Bottom Of Your Soul") *2015: ''

'' *2018: '' Old Is New''

Solo albums

*1982: ''Joseph Williams'' (re-released 2002) *1996: ''I Am Alive'' *1997: ''3'' *1999: ''Early Years'' *2003: '' Vertigo'' *2006: ''Two of Us'' *2006: ''Vertigo 2'' *2007: ''Smiles'' *2007: ''Tears'' *2008: ''This Fall'' *2021: ''Denizen Tenant''

with Peter Friestedt

*2011: ''Williams/Friestedt''

with CWF - Bill Champlin / Peter Friestedt / Joseph Williams

*2015: ''CWF'' *2018: ''10 Miles'' *2020: ''CWF 2''

Guest vocals (excerpt)

*1983: ''Lapti Nek'' (Urth) *1984: ''Which One of Us Is Me'' (Jay Gruska) *1985: ''Save the Night'' (

The Goonies ''The Goonies'' is a 1985 American adventure comedy film co-produced and directed by Richard Donner from a screenplay by Chris Columbus, based on a story by Steven Spielberg. In the film, kids who live in the "Goon Docks" neighborhood of Astori ...

soundtrack) *1985: ''Sleepess Nights'' (Alan Gorrie) *1985: ''

'' (Theme Song Vocals) *1988: ''In the City of Angels'' (Jon Anderson) *1989: ''My Heart in Red'' (Ijiima Mari) *1990: ''Tatsuro Songs from L.A.'' (Compilation) *1990: ''Toy Matinee'' (

Toy Matinee Toy Matinee was a short-lived United States, American rock band, which released one eponymous album. Their sound featured an array of influences, including progressive rock, Album-oriented rock, AOR and Pop music, pop reminiscent of both the Beat ...

) *1991: ''Tatsuro Songs from L.A. 2'' (Compilation) *1991: ''Fade in Love'' (Compilation) *1992: ''Re-Import'' (Compilation) *1992: ''Goody's'' (Compilation) *1992: ''The Radical Light'' (Vonda Shepard) *1993: ''Airplay for the Planet'' (Jay Graydon) *1993: ''L.A. Cowboys / Endless Summer'' (Compilation) *1994: ''Love Stories 3'' (Compilation) *1994: ''

'' (Original Movie Soundtrack) *1997: ''California Dreamin (West Coast All Stars) *1998: ''Naturally'' (West Coast All Stars) *1999: ''ELT Songs from L.A.'' (Compilation) *1999: ''In a Dream'' (Lionel's Dad) *2001: ''Radioactive'' (Ceremony Of Innocence) *2002: ''LA Project'' (Peter Friestedt) *2006: ''Avalon'' (The Richie Zito Project) *2008: ''LA Project II'' (Peter Friestedt) *2008: '' Holy God'' (Brian Doerksen) *2014: ''My Kind O' Lovin (Intelligent Music Project II) *2015: ''Touching the Divine (Intelligent Music Project III) *2015: CWF (Champlin, Williams, Friestedt) *2018: 10 Miles/CWF (Champlin, Williams, Friestedt) *2020: CWF II (Champlin, Williams, Friestedt)

Source music (excerpt)

*1983: '' Return of the Jedi'' (lyrics for "Lapti Nek" and an unused source cue)

References

External links

*
List of songs and scores for film and television written by Joseph Williams
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Joseph 1960 births Living people 20th-century American composers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American composers 21st-century American singers American film score composers American male film score composers American male pop singers American male singers American pop rock singers American rock singers John Williams Musicians from Santa Monica, California Singers from California Toto (band) members