Toto‘s Steve Lukather has criticised Weezer for their ‘Africa’ cover, calling the circumstances surrounding it “weird”.
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Weezer’s take on the karaoke classic came in 2018, following a fan-driven campaign beginning in December 2017, urging them to cover the track. After briefly trolling fans with a version of Toto’s ‘Roseanna’ instead, they eventually shared their cover – even releasing it on vinyl.
Returning the favour the same year, Toto then shared their take on Weezer’s ‘Hash Pipe’ – first performing it at a gig in Vancouver and then releasing a studio version.
The band also let their thoughts be known about Weezer’s cover of ‘Africa’, giving it a “B++” and saying Rivers Cuomo and co “kicked ass on it.”
Lukather added: “Our music has such little nuance. We spent so much meticulous time. These guys stood this shit up in an afternoon.”
Now, though, it seems that things aren’t so friendly between the two bands. Speaking to the New & Approved podcast, Lukather provided some new insight into their relationship, after host Matt Pinfield mentioned Cuomo “loving” ‘Africa’.
The Toto frontman quickly interjected, saying: “I don’t know about him loving the song, man. I don’t think that’s the case at all.”
He went on to say that he didn’t believe the cover was done in good faith, but that Toto had the last laugh anyway. “I think he did it to take the piss out of it and it blew up in his face,” he told the podcast. “Now he’s gotta play it every night!”
Lukather continued, saying that Cuomo wasn’t so open to him: “I tried to reach out to this guy and be friendly and it just got weird,” he explained. “I don’t want to get into it, but peace and love. It was good for them, it was good for us. God bless.”
In other Toto news, they’re set to head off on a UK and European headline tour this year, which includes a stop at London’s Wembley Arena. Head here for the full list of dates, and get tickets here.
As for Weezer, 2024 saw them celebrate the 30th anniversary of their 1994 debut record, ‘The Blue Album’, with a run of special shows, a new concert film, and a “comprehensive” and expanded reissue of the LP.
They’ll also be playing shows in the UK and Europe this year, and you can get tickets here (UK/Ireland) and here (Europe).
During an interview with NME in June, Cuomo responded to Liam Gallagher once calling him his “favourite rock star”.
