Toto guitarist Steve Lukather insists things “got weird” with Weezer after their ‘Africa’ cover.
The ‘Buddy Holly’ rockers had huge success with their rendition of the 1982 classic in 2018 following a campaign from a teenage fan, but Steve has suggested Rivers Cuomo and the band’s decision to record the track was a joke that went too far.
He told Matt Pinfield’s ‘New and Approved’ show: “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 p*** out of it and it blew up in his face and now he’s got to play it every night.
“I tried to reach out to this guy and be friendly and then it just got weird.”
Steve insisted he wouldn’t “get into” the details, but conceded that the success of the cover – which led to Toto performing Weezer’s 2001 track ‘Hash Pipe’ – was “good” for both bands.
He added: “I don’t want to get into it, but peace and love. It was good for them, it was good for us.”
The musician previously discussed the situation in another interview, where he claimed “Rivers really hurt my feelings” by snubbing him after the success of Weezer’s cover.
Back in 2020, he told Rolling Stone magazine: “I tried to reach out to Rivers. I said, ‘Hey, man, isn’t this funny? Whether you like us or not, it’s working out good for both of us.’
“Silence! The cat refused to talk to me! I’m friends with the biggest rock and roll stars in the world, and this is the only cat that refuses to talk to me!
“I’m sorry, Rivers. You made a lot of f*****’ money off this. You should be a little bit more thankful.
“But I got nothing bad to say about them. Some of them were cool, but Rivers really hurt my feelings.”
Despite Weezer performing ‘Africa’ live between 2018 and 2024, Toto keyboardist Steve Porcaro – who left in 2019 – has echoed his former bandmate’s sentiments.
Recalling the time he played the song with Weezer on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’, he insisted Rivers “winced” when their manager said the song was doing well on the radio.
He told Rolling Stone: “They initially did it as a goof, but now they realised they’d have to play the song for a lot longer than they thought they would.
“This whole business runs on hit records. If you get one, you better be prepared to play it for the rest of your life.”