Robert Troy Kimball (born March 29, 1947) is an American singer and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

best known as the original and longtime frontman of the

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two gui ...

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 ...

from 1977 to 1984 and again from 1998 to 2008. Kimball has also performed as a solo artist and session singer.

History

Early life

Kimball was born in

Orange, Texas Orange is a city and the county seat of Orange County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 19,324. It is the easternmost city in Texas, located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, and is from Hous ...

but raised in nearby

Vinton, Louisiana Vinton is a town in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,400 in 2020. It is part of the Lake Charles metropolitan statistical area. History The Old Spanish Trail, which was neither old nor Spanish, wandered north and ...

. (Vinton did not have a hospital.) He started singing as a child, dabbling on vocals and playing piano and acoustic guitar in a musical household throughout his youth - mostly covering and performing 1950s and 1960s R&B hits, 1800s Traditional Olde Tyme music; as well as rare local

Swamp pop Swamp pop is a music genre indigenous to the Acadiana region of south Louisiana and an adjoining section of southeast Texas. Created in the 1950s by young Cajuns and Creoles, it combines New Orleans–style rhythm and blues, country and wester ...

and

Cajun folk songs The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana. While Cajuns are usually described as ...

, typical of Louisiana. His parents were extremely supportive of his hobby of performing music and his musical talents; and devoted much interest in his opportunity to become a professional musician as full-time career by adulthood. He is of English, Cajun French,

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

and

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

ancestry. He graduated from

McNeese State University McNeese State University is a public university in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Founded in 1939 as Lake Charles Junior College, it was renamed McNeese Junior College after John McNeese, an early local educator. The present name was adopted in 1970. M ...

in Lake Charles,

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

in 1969. Throughout the 1970s, Kimball performed as the vocalist in various

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

bands, including ''The Levee Band'', which became

Louisiana's LeRoux LeRoux (also known as Louisiana's LeRoux) is a band founded in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which saw its heyday from 1978 to 1984. Their best-known songs were "Take a Ride On a Riverboat" with its 4-part a capella intro, the regional smash "New Orl ...

after Kimball left.

Career success

In 1974, Kimball moved from Louisiana to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

to pursue a full-time music career. In California, he joined three members of

Three Dog Night Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, with founding members consisting of vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael ...

to form a band called S.S. Fools. They released one album on CBS Records, which was considered a commercial failure, causing the band to be dropped from their label and to split up within a year and a half. In 1976,

David Paich David Frank Paich (born June 25, 1954) is an American musician, best known as the co-founder, principal songwriter, keyboardist and singer of the rock band Toto since 1977. He wrote or co-wrote much of Toto's original material, including the ban ...

and

Jeff Porcaro Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (; April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work with the rock band Toto but is one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working on ...

asked Kimball to join them with three other session musicians, who would eventually form

. He submitted a self-penned audition song for the band: "You Are the Flower", which he had written for his daughter and was later included on Toto's debut album. Paich and Porcaro were impressed by Kimball's bluesy vocal style and offered him the job of vocalist and songwriter. The pair liked Kimball's ability to sing in an R&B style and to fuse it with hard rock and

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 majo ...

, which was characteristic and attributed to his Louisiana origins. Kimball performed on the first four studio albums by Toto. He was asked to leave the band in 1984 during the sessions for the '' Isolation'' album. In the late 1990s, on good terms with his former bandmates, Kimball was asked to rejoin Toto, which he accepted. A longstanding

urban legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

holds that the band named itself 'Toto' after Kimball's "real" name, "Robert Toteaux." This story was an in-joke perpetuated by Toto's original bassist,

David Hungate William David Hungate (born August 5, 1948) is an American bass guitarist noted as a member of the Los Angeles pop-rock band Toto from 1976 to 1982 and again from 2014 to 2015, and the son of judge William L. Hungate. Along with most of his T ...

- due to Kimball's home-state of Louisiana and his Cajun heritage. According to Toto guitarist

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 stead ...

, the real reason for this choice of band name was that Toto was "Just a really simple (unpretentious) name: easy to remember and easily identifiable, in any language."

After Toto

After splitting from Toto in 1984, Bobby Kimball relocated to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

for a solo career under producer

Frank Farian Frank Farian (born Franz Reuther; 18 July 1941) is a German record producer, musician, singer and songwriter, who founded the 1970s disco-pop group Boney M., the Latin pop band No Mercy and the pop band Milli Vanilli. He frequently created v ...

of the Far Corporation. Kimball also continued to work as a session artist, singing background vocals with a trio composed of Michael McDonald from

The Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...

and Bill Champlin of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. Kimball was nearly asked by the band to return to Toto during 1989–1990 to record songs for the band's greatest hits album, ''

Past to Present 1977–1990 ''Past to Present 1977–1990'' is the first compilation album by Toto, released in 1990. It contains nine hit songs from the band's first seven albums, and four new songs recorded with new singer Jean-Michel Byron. According to the band, it was T ...

'', only to be replaced by singer Jean-Michel Byron (a decision said to have derived from

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

, the band's record company at the time). Byron was let go shortly thereafter, and guitarist-vocalist

took over Toto's primary lead vocal duties from 1991 to 1999. After leaving the band, Kimball released the live album ''Classic Toto Hits'' in late 1990, in which he performed various Toto songs from over the years. He recorded the album with the Frankfurt Rock Orchestra. In 1994, Kimball released his first solo album ''Rise Up'', featuring the single "Woodstock".

Return to Toto

In 1998, Kimball rejoined Toto. The band then returned to the studio to record '' Mindfields''. Toto toured in support of the album throughout 1999 and 2000. In late 1999, the band released the live album '' Livefields''. In 1999, Kimball released his second solo album ''All I Ever Needed'', with the single "Kristine". In 2002, Toto released a covers album '' Through the Looking Glass''. In February 2006, Toto released '' Falling in Between'', their first studio album of new material since 1999; however, it was announced in June 2008 that the band members had gone separate ways. When the group reformed in 2010, Kimball was not asked to return and was replaced by previous Toto vocalist Joseph Williams. Kimball hosts his own website where he offers vocal advice to aspiring singers. Kimball was involved in the

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...

tribute album, ''Pigs and Pyramids, An All Star Lineup Performing the Songs of Pink Floyd'', released in 2002. His contribution " Have a Cigar" also appeared on another Pink Floyd tribute album that year, ''Pink Box: Songs of Pink Floyd''.

Latest activities

Kimball provided additional backing vocals on the song, "Caroline," on the 2006

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

album, '' XXX''. In January 2010, he did fourteen concerts in Germany on the "Rock Meets Classic" Tour with the Bohemian Symphony Orchestra Prague, featuring Philipp Maier as Conductor and Music Arranger. The singers with Kimball on this tour were

Lou Gramm Lou Gramm (born Louis Andrew Grammatico; 2 May 1950) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for being the lead singer of the rock band Foreigner from 1977 to 1990 and 1992 to 2003 during which time the band had numerous successful albu ...

, the original lead vocalist of Foreigner, and

Dan McCafferty William Daniel McCafferty (14 October 1946 – 8 November 2022) was a vocalist and songwriter best known as the lead singer for the Scottish hard rock band Nazareth from its founding in 1968 to his retirement from touring with the band in 2013. ...

, from the band Nazareth. On May 16, 2010, at the LMHOF Louisiana Music Homecoming in Erwinville, Louisiana, Bobby Kimball was inducted into The

Louisiana Music Hall of Fame The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame (LMHOF) is a non-profit hall of fame based in Baton Rouge, the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana, that seeks to honor and preserve the state's music culture and heritage and to promote education about the stat ...

. Kimball recorded a progressive rock album in 2010 entitled ''Elements'' under the band name Yoso with former

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...

members Tony Kaye and

Billy Sherwood William Wyman Sherwood (born March 14, 1965) is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, singer, record producer and mixing engineer. He is best known for his tenures in the English progressive rock band Yes as guitarist and keyboardist fr ...

. Kimball recorded the 2011 album ''Kimball/Jamison'' with

Jimi Jamison Jimmy Wayne Jamison (August 23, 1951 – September 1, 2014) was an American singer. Best known as Jimi Jamison, he earned recognition as the frontman for the rock bands Target, Cobra, and Survivor from 1984 to 1989, performing the songs " Burni ...

. In July 2011, Kimball toured Ireland with an emerging Irish band, Shadowplay. The tour visited Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Sligo, concluding in a headline performance at The Buncrana Music Festival, Ireland's largest not-for-profit music event. In November 2012, Kimball toured South America. The tour included

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. In March 2013, Kimball was a special guest vocalist with the '' Raiding the Rock Vault'' classic rock tribute show in Las Vegas, Nevada. In May 2014, in Genoa, at the FIM - Fiera Internazionale della Musica, Kimball obtained from the director of the event Verdiano Vera, the FIM Award 2014 - Legend of Rock - Best Voice. In February 2015, he represented the United States at the LVI International Song Festival in Viña del Mar, Chile, with the song "Living Your Life for Happiness". In late 2016, Bobby released a solo album, ''We're Not In Kansas Anymore'', and the same year, music website ''No Echo'' featured Kimball on their "Best Male AOR Singers" list. In November 2019, German media reported that Kimball suffers from

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

. This was also confirmed by Steve Lukather in an interview with Eonmusic in 2021.

Discography

Solo albums

* ''Rise Up'' (1994) * ''All I Ever Needed'' (1999) * ''We're Not In Kansas Anymore'' (2016)

Live albums

* ''Classic Toto Hits'' with The Frankfurt Rock Orchestra (1990)

Compilation albums

* ''Tribute to Ray Charles'' with The hr Bigband (1993) * ''Mysterious Sessions'' (2017)

with S. S. Fools

* ''S. S. Fools'' (1976)

with Toto

* ''

'' (1978) * ''

Hydra Hydra generally refers to: * Lernaean Hydra, a many-headed serpent in Greek mythology * ''Hydra'' (genus), a genus of simple freshwater animals belonging to the phylum Cnidaria Hydra or The Hydra may also refer to: Astronomy * Hydra (constel ...

'' (1979) * '' Turn Back'' (1981) * ''

Toto IV ''Toto IV'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Toto released in the spring of 1982 by Columbia Records. The lead single, " Rosanna", peaked at number 2 for five weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 charts, while the album's third si ...

'' (1982) * '' Mindfields'' (1999) * '' Through the Looking Glass'' (2002) * '' Falling in Between'' (2006)

with Far Corporation

* '' Division One'' (1985) * ''Solitude'' (1994)

with West Coast All Stars

* ''California Dreamin' '' (1997) * ''Naturally'' (1998)

with Yoso

* ''

Elements Element or elements may refer to: Science * Chemical element, a pure substance of one type of atom * Heating element, a device that generates heat by electrical resistance * Orbital elements, parameters required to identify a specific orbit of ...

'' (2010)

with Jimi Jamison

* ''

Kimball Jamison ''Kimball Jamison'' is a duo album from the American rock singers Jimi Jamison (Survivor) and Bobby Kimball (Toto), released on October 14, 2011 by Frontiers Records. The album was produced by German bassist, singer and music producer Mat Sinner ...

'' (2011)

Guest appearances

* " What It Takes" (from the compilation album, ''Tribute to Aerosmith: Let the Tribute Do the Talkin) (2001) * "The Seventh Son (with Chris Catena's Rock City Tribe on the album, ''Truth in Unity'') (2020)

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kimball, Bobby 1947 births Living people People from Vinton, Louisiana American rock singers American pop rock singers American rock keyboardists American tenors American soft rock musicians American male singers Yoso members Toto (band) members American expatriates in Germany World Classic Rockers members