Bobby Kimball

Bobby Kimball
Kimball live in 2007
Background information
Birth name	Robert Troy Kimball
Born	(1947-03-29) March 29, 1947 (age 70) Orange, Texas, United States
Genres	Rock
Occupation(s)	Singer, musician
Instruments	Vocals, Piano
Years active	1962–present
Associated acts	Toto, Jimi Jamison, Far Corporation
Website	Official website

Robert Troy "Bobby" Kimball (born March 29, 1947) is an American singer, best known as the original and longtime frontman of the rock band Toto.

Kimball was raised in Vinton, Louisiana, but was born in nearby Orange, Texas, as Vinton did not have a hospital. Kimball started singing as a child, dabbling on vocals and piano in a musical household throughout his youth. Throughout the 1970s, Kimball performed as the vocalist in various New Orleans-area bands, including The Levee Band, which would later become LeRoux after Kimball left.

In 1974, Kimball moved to Los Angeles where he joined three members of Three Dog Night to form a new band called S.S. Fools. They released one album on CBS Records, but the band split up within a year and a half. About six months later, Kimball was asked by David Paich and Jeff Porcaro to join the five session musicians to form Toto. He submitted a self-penned audition song for the band, "You Are the Flower", which was included on their debut album. Kimball performed on the first four studio albums by Toto, but was released from the band in 1984 during the sessions for the Isolation LP. During this time, Kimball was known to make a variety of sandwiches for the band during recording sessions, something he has stated in interviews as something he is very proud of.

A longstanding urban legend holds that the band named itself 'Toto' after Kimball's "real" name, "Robert Toteaux." This story was actually a joke perpetrated and perpetuated by Toto's original bassist, David Hungate. According to Toto guitarist Steve Lukather, the reason for this choice of band name was that Toto was "really simple, easy to remember and easily identified in every language."

After splitting from Toto in 1984, Bobby Kimball relocated to Germany for a solo career under producer Frank Farian of the Far Corporation.