Bobby Kimball

Bobby Kimball Bio

Robert Troy Kimball, known professionally as Bobby Kimball, is an American retired singer, songwriter, and musician born on March 29, 1947, in Orange, Texas, and raised in Vinton, Louisiana. He is best known as the original lead vocalist of the rock band Toto, a position he held during the group’s first era from 1977 to 1984 and again from 1998 to 2008. Across more than four decades, Kimball built a reputation for a bluesy vocal style that blended R&B, hard rock, and jazz influences rooted in his Louisiana upbringing.

After leaving Toto in 1984, Kimball worked as a solo artist and session singer, contributing to projects in the United States and Europe before rejoining his former bandmates in the late 1990s. He has been honored with induction into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame and, in recent years, has been publicly identified as living with frontotemporal dementia.

Early Life and Background

Robert Troy Kimball was born on March 29, 1947, in Orange, Texas, but was raised in nearby Vinton, Louisiana, because Vinton did not have a hospital at the time. He grew up in a musical household where he began singing as a child and learned to play piano and acoustic guitar. Much of his early musical diet consisted of 1950s and 1960s R&B hits, traditional nineteenth-century folk material, and the regional swamp pop and Cajun folk songs typical of Louisiana.

Kimball is of English, German, Irish, and Cajun French ancestry, a heritage that later informed the eclectic flavor of his singing. His parents strongly supported his musical ambitions and encouraged his goal of becoming a full-time professional musician. He graduated from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in 1969, having developed the vocal foundation that would later define his career.

Path to Music

Throughout the 1970s, Kimball performed as the vocalist in several New Orleans-area bands, including a group called the Levee Band that later became Louisiana’s LeRoux after he departed. These formative years on the Gulf Coast circuit allowed him to sharpen his live performance skills and refine a vocal approach that fused R&B grit with rock energy. His career start year is generally listed as 1962, reflecting the earliest stages of his work as a young performer.

In 1974, Kimball relocated from Louisiana to Los Angeles, California, to pursue music on a full-time basis. He soon joined forces with three former members of Three Dog Night, namely Floyd Sneed, Joe Schermie, and Michael Allsup, to form the band S.S. Fools. The group released one album on CBS Records, but weak sales led to their label dropping them, and the band split within roughly a year and a half. By 1976, word of Kimball’s vocal abilities had reached two rising Los Angeles session musicians, David Paich and Jeff Porcaro, who invited him to audition for what would become Toto.

Bobby Kimball Career

Early Career (1977–1984)

Kimball submitted a self-penned audition song titled “You Are the Flower,” written for his daughter, that was later included on Toto’s debut album. Impressed by his bluesy vocal style and his ability to fuse R&B with hard rock and jazz, David Paich and Jeff Porcaro offered him the role of lead vocalist and songwriter. Kimball performed on Toto’s first four studio albums, helping establish the band as one of the defining rock acts of the late 1970s and early 1980s. During the sessions for the Isolation album in 1984, he was asked to leave the group.

Earlier, in the 1984 movie Gimme an F, Kimball sang lead vocals on the song “State of My Heart.” After his departure from Toto, he relocated to Germany, where he joined Far Corporation under producer Frank Farian. The band released Division One in 1985, an album that also featured contributions from former Toto bandmates David Paich and Steve Lukather.

Breakthrough (1985–2008)

Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, Kimball toured with a solo band featuring longtime friend and saxophonist Jon Smith, along with guitarist and vocalist Dave Blasucci, guitarist Mark Manjardi, keyboardist Dave Porter, bassist Vince Bilbro, and drummer Jimmy Griego. The group performed Toto material alongside covers by The Isley Brothers, Whitesnake, Donny Hathaway, George Michael, and Patti LaBelle. Kimball also built a steady career as a session vocalist, contributing background vocals to recordings by Quiet Riot, Al Jarreau, Richard Marx, and Trixter.

In 1990, Kimball released the live album Classic Toto Hits, recorded with the Frankfurt Rock Orchestra, and in 1994 he issued his first solo studio album, Rise Up, which featured the single “Woodstock.” In 1998, on good terms with his former bandmates, he was invited to rejoin Toto. The band marked its twentieth anniversary with a short tour and then recorded the studio album Mindfields, which was followed by extensive touring in 1999 and 2000 and the live album Livefields. Kimball’s second solo album, All I Ever Needed, arrived in 1999 with the single “Kristine,” and he continued to record and perform with Toto through 2008.

Notable Works and Milestones

Kimball’s signature contributions include the lead vocals on Toto’s first four studio albums, the song “You Are the Flower,” his 1994 solo debut Rise Up, and his work on Toto’s Mindfields and Falling in Between. His career-defining moments include the original Toto audition in 1976, the global success of Toto throughout the early 1980s, and the band’s twentieth-anniversary reunion in 1998.

Bobby Kimball Award Nominations

Publicly verifiable, high-confidence records of formal award nominations for Bobby Kimball are limited. He has been recognized in informal industry features, including a 2016 appearance on the music website No Echo’s “Best Male AOR Singers” list, but specific nomination tallies are not clearly established in the available sources.

Bobby Kimball Awards Won

Bobby Kimball was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame on May 16, 2010, during the LMHOF Louisiana Music Homecoming in Erwinville, Louisiana. He has also received additional recognition, including the Legend of Rock – Best Voice award at the Fiera Internazionale della Musica in Genoa in May 2014.

Bobby Kimball Family

Bobby Kimball was raised in a supportive family in Vinton, Louisiana, where his parents encouraged his musical talents from childhood. The audition song “You Are the Flower” was written for his daughter, reflecting the close personal ties that shaped his songwriting. He is of English, German, Irish, and Cajun French ancestry.

Personal Life

Bobby Kimball has been married to Jasmin Gabay since 1996, and the couple has remained together to the present. He moved to Germany after leaving Toto in 1984 and spent a significant portion of his later career based in Europe while continuing to tour internationally. In November 2019, German media reported that Kimball has dementia, a condition that was confirmed by Toto guitarist Steve Lukather in a 2021 interview with Eonmusic and has since been more specifically identified as frontotemporal dementia. A documentary about his life, Kite on a String: The Bobby Kimball Story, is being produced by his longtime collaborator John Zaika.