Jeff Porcaro: the mysterious death of the “groove master”
Most people remember Californian pop rockers Toto for their smash-hit 1982 single ‘Africa’, but the band were far more versatile and skilled than their biggest hit gives them credit for. Over the course of their time together, Toto incorporated various different styles into their music, including jazz, funk, blues and even hard rock. Throughout it all, the band were led largely by the man behind the sticks: Jeff Porcaro.
Drummers are often overlooked within the context of rock outfits, with lead singers and guitarists frequently basking in the limelight. Ultimately, however, you cannot have a good band without a great drummer. They form an essential aspect of any and every group – regardless of genre or musical style. As you might expect, Jeff Porcaro was an utterly vital member of Toto, constantly driving the band forward and affirming his own musical talent. Speaking to his legendary quality, Porcaro was hailed as the “groove master” by none other than Eddie Van Halen, with countless other musicians heaping praise on the drummer over the years.
Porcaro’s talents were not limited to the sounds of Toto either. In fact, he is said to be among the most prolific session musicians in the history of popular music. Prior to forming Toto in 1977, Porcaro made a name for himself playing with the jazz fusion masters Steely Dan, and many of those jazz-rock influences can be heard within the drummer’s later playing style under the Toto banner. Whatever your opinions on Toto or Steely Dan, the facts are undeniable: the world of drumming during the 1970s and 1980s has a lot to thank Jeff Porcaro for.
It would seem impossible that such an exciting and vibrant flame within the music industry could be snuffed out easily, but tragically, that is just what happened. On August 5th, 1993, Toto’s drummer died in hospital only hours after complaining to his wife of feeling ill. The official cause of death was of a heart attack, resulting from an allergic reaction while spraying insecticides in his Los Angeles garden. Controversially, though, this cause of death was later changed.
The coroner seemed to believe that the heart attack had actually come as a result of atherosclerosis – a disease which restricts the arteries around the heart. At the time, it was reported by the coroner, and hyperbolised by the press, that this heart disease allegedly came as a result of heavy cocaine use by Porcaro – which was strongly denied by his family. Of course, cocaine was rife throughout the music scene in America amid the 1970s and 1980s, but it hardly seems likely that the Toto drummer was snorting lines of it while gardening on a warm summer’s day.
Nevertheless, the press ran with the story that Porcaro had died solely as a result of cocaine usage, omitting the fact that his family had a history of heart problems. The media fallout infuriated Porcaro’s bandmates, particularly his friend and bandmate Steve Lukather. The guitarist for Toto rallied against the press stories that Porcaro had died as a result of cocaine, later decrying the situation by saying, “It was irresponsible journalism.”
His frustrations were understandable, especially given Porcaro’s reputation as a devoted husband and father. “The guy had a wife and kids,” Lukather continued, “He did not die from cocaine,” adding, “They found one one-hundredth of a microgram of cocaine in Jeff’s blood. That’s like two crystals on a fucking matchstick.” Whatever the truth behind the mysterious death of Jeff Porcaro, it is clear that the American music scene lost an irreplaceable figure on that summer day in 1993.
