The American rock band called Toto released the song “Africa” on their 1982 album titled “Toto IV.” It was their fourth studio album and “Africa” was their final track on the album. The single was released in 1982 through Columbia Records and was written by members of the band Jeff Porcaro and David Paich. The song was mixed by Elliot Scheiner, a Grammy Award-winning engineer. The song received a lot of praise from critics both for the composition of the song and also for the performances by Toto. It reached the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.
Around the world, the song also did very well, reaching number one on Canadian charts and peaking in the top ten in the U.K., the Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland, and New Zealand. The music video that came out in 1983 features Toto in a library as they showcase various aspects of the culture in Africa as they perform. The song was popular in the 1980s and 1990s, but it became certified gold in 1991 by the RIAA. The song saw a huge popularity resurgence because of social media in the late 2010s. This included a fan-requested cover by Weezer, another American rock band. That version made it to number 51 and has been certified platinum five times.
The idea for the song, as well as the lyrics, came from David Paich, who was playing around with a new keyboard. He discovered the brassy sound that would end up becoming the opening riff and he completed the lyrics and melody for the chorus in less than 10 minutes. He claims he sang the chorus just as we hear it in the song. He felt that it was being channeled by a higher power. According to Paich, he said that he’s talented, but “not that talented.” In his opinion, something magical happened.
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Below, you’ll see pianist Peter Bence playing the song on a grand piano.