Born to composer John Williams and Broadway star Barbara Ruik, Joseph Williams was destined for the stage.

He has rolled their influences into his role as Toto’s lead singer. The band comes to the Arizona Financial Theatre in Phoenix on Tuesday, Aug. 11, with Christopher Cross and The Romantics. 

“My mother was a great singer,” Williams said via Zoom. “She was kind of an extrovert, as opposed to my father, who’s a composer, isolated in his room with a pencil and paper. He spends hours and hours and hours writing, then gets his social interaction by conducting an orchestra.”

John Williams, 94, is considered a legend for the breadth of his work, including the main title theme from “Star Wars.” 

“When I was a little kid, and he was writing, I couldn’t really get a sense of what it was going to be,” the younger Williams said. “He doesn’t even really need an instrument. He just needs a candle, a Quill pen and parchment.

“He’s really old school. When we were kids, we would have a chance to go to the recording sessions — the orchestra recording sessions for films, where all of that would come alive. It blew us away every single time.”

Williams has worked as a film score composer himself, along with two stints as Toto’s frontman, 1986 to 1988, and again since 2010. He also provided the singing voice of the adult Simba in the 1994 animated film “The Lion King.” 

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Although he’s been with Toto for some time, Williams still loves the stage, the lights and the crowd who can effortlessly recite all the words to “Africa.” 

“It’s the best job in the world,” Williams said. 

“Toto’s style is extremely eclectic — from R&B to harder rock, progressive jazz and then whatever ‘Africa’ is. I don’t know what you would call that style. All in all, it’s a rock show.”

Toto is more than “just” a band for Williams. The act known for “Hold the Line” and “Rosanna” is a through‑line of his life, as the musicians are childhood friends. He has known guitarist/singer-songwriter Steve Lukather since junior high. 

He’d known Steve Lukather since junior high, and met keyboardist David Paich and Jeff, Mike and Steve Porcaro through his dad. Steve and Jeff Porcaro co-founded Toto.

“To join Toto was like joining the best band from when I was a kid,” Williams said. “It started with a little group of musicians who were hired to play on everybody else’s records because they were so good. Then they just decided, ‘We have original songs. We might as well put a band together.’”

That family feeling still defines the band. Backstage, Toto’s musicians are easy; however, on stage, they let loose. They have refreshed the set list with the hits, deeper cuts and “secondary hits.”

“We always go for the energetic, edgy things,” Williams said. “You’ll definitely see that.”

Touring at 66 isn’t the same as touring at 26. Williams is the first to admit that. His goal is to stay healthy — avoid crowds, eat clean and walk alone. 

“A bass player can get a cold and still play,” he said. “A singer can’t. The more you go out and sing and shout, the worse things get. If you have something starting in your chest, that’s the worst. You’re throwing all of that infected material onto your vocal cords. They swell up and the sound of swollen vocal cords is basically just air.” 

Different climates bring different challenges: dry desert air, high altitude, humidity that clings to the lungs. He adjusts, hydrates, breathes, listens to his body. The show is the easy part. Protecting the voice that delivers it is the real work.

Toto will spend 2027 to 2028 celebrating its 50th anniversary with tours in Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe, Australia, South America, the Middle East and, hopefully, South Africa, he said. 

“It’s a big, big undertaking,” Williams said. “But we’re excited.”