Joseph Williams

Joseph Stanley Williams (born September 1, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter and film score composer, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Toto from 1986 to 1988 and again since 2010. Outside of Toto, he has worked as a composer and studio vocalist, including providing the singing voice of adult Simba in the 1994 animated film The Lion King.

Early life Williams was born Joseph Stanley Williams on September 1, 1960, in Santa Monica, California, the son of actress Barbara Ruick and prolific film composer John Williams. He is the youngest of three children with an older brother and an older sister.

Career

Toto

Williams was the lead vocalist for Toto during the mid- to late 1980s and was featured on the albums Fahrenheit (1986) and The Seventh One (1988) before leaving due to personal problems. He can also be heard on the album Toto XX (1998), a compilation of rare and unreleased tracks. He is featured on Toto's 2006 album, Falling in Between, sharing lead vocals with Steve Lukather on "Bottom of Your Soul". In addition to his guest spot on Falling in Between, Williams was a guest singer at several Toto concerts.

Williams rejoined Toto upon its reformation in 2010 and performed on the band's recent live albums and the 2015 studio album Toto XIV. When the group disbanded in 2019 and subsequently reformed in 2020, Williams was the only member from the previous lineup besides Lukather and touring members Warren Ham and Dominique "Xavier" Taplin to return.

Solo work as a singer Williams released his first, self-titled solo album in 1982. After his initial tenure with Toto, he has released several more. Many of Toto's members have contributed to his solo work over the years. In 2003, he released an album called Vertigo, a project he initiated, but where he was not in full charge of the production, only recording and supplying the vocals. The second Vertigo album, Vertigo 2, was released in 2006. Williams released an album of cover songs from artists such as Elton John, Bryan Adams, Diane Warren, and Kevin Cronin in 2006 called Two of Us, featuring piano and voice only. He returned with two more voice and piano albums in 2007, Smiles and Tears, also consisting of classic hits by popular artists. His latest solo album containing original songs, This Fall, was released in November 2008.

Work as a film composer Joseph Williams has also been busy as a composer of film and drama scores, most notably for episodes of the science fiction series Roswell, and The Lyon's Den starring Rob Lowe.

He was the writer of the original English lyrics for the songs "Lapti Nek" and "Ewok Celebration" from the original 1983 release of Return of the Jedi, which was scored and conducted by his father, John Williams. Both songs were replaced with new compositions in the 1997 Special Edition. He collaborated again with his father on the releases of The Phantom Menace (1999) and Attack of the Clones (2002). In the former he helped compose Augie's Great Municipal Band which appears during the ending of the film and in the latter 2M4, an untitled composition that appears during the Dex's Diner sequence.

In 2003, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Main Title Theme Music" for the TV series Miracles. He provided backing vocals on Peter Cetera's album World Falling Down and co-wrote the song "Man in Me", lead vocals for three tracks – "Walk the Wire", "History" and "When You Look in My Eyes" – to Jay Graydon's Airplay for the Planet album, subsequently touring with the band and backing vocals on Jon Anderson's In the City of Angels in 1988, most prominently on the song "Top of the World (The Glass Bead Game)". In Disney's animated feature film The Lion King, he can be heard as the singing voice of the Adult Simba, singing on the songs "Hakuna Matata" and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight". He reprised this singing role in the direct-to-video animated film Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse. In 1997 and 1998 respectively, he shared vocal duties on two albums by the a cappella covers group The West Coast All Stars, the other vocalists being Bobby Kimball, Bill Champlin, and Jason Scheff, whereas Tommy Funderburk replaced Champlin on the Naturally album. He sings background vocals on Chicago's "King of Might Have Been" on the 2006 album Chicago XXX as well as on "Let's Take a Lifetime" on the 1993-recorded/2008-released album Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus. The song "What You're Missing" from the Chicago album Chicago 16 was co-written by him. He also sings backing vocals on five tracks from Steve Lukather's solo album Ever Changing Times in addition to lending his vocals to another three of Lukather's solo albums, All's Well That Ends Well, I Found the Sun Again and Bridges.

Discography

Toto albums 1986: Fahrenheit 1988: The Seventh One 1998: Toto XX (lead vocals on "Last Night" and “In A Word”) 2006: Falling in Between (co-lead vocals and background vocals on "Bottom Of Your Soul") 2015: Toto XIV 2018: Old Is New

Solo albums 1982: Joseph Williams (re-released 2002) 1996: I Am Alive 1997: 3 1999: Early Years 2003: Vertigo 2006: Two of Us 2006: Vertigo 2 2007: Smiles 2007: Tears 2008: This Fall 2021: Denizen Tenant

with Peter Friestedt 2011: Williams/Friestedt

with CWF - Bill Champlin / Peter Friestedt / Joseph Williams 2015: CWF 2018: 10 Miles 2020: CWF 2 2023: Carrie

Guest vocals (excerpt) 1983: Lapti Nek (Urth) 1984: Which One of Us Is Me (Jay Gruska) 1985: Save the Night (The Goonies soundtrack) 1985: Sleepless Nights (Alan Gorrie) 1985: Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears (Theme Song Vocals) 1988: In the City of Angels (Jon Anderson) 1989: My Heart in Red (Ijiima Mari) 1990: Tatsuro Songs from L.A. (compilation) 1990: Toy Matinee (Toy Matinee) 1991: Tatsuro Songs from L.A. 2 (compilation) 1991: Fade in Love (compilation) 1992: Re-Import (compilation) 1992: Goody's (compilation) 1992: The Radical Light (Vonda Shepard) 1993: Airplay for the Planet (Jay Graydon) 1993: L.A. Cowboys / Endless Summer (compilation) 1994: Love Stories 3 (compilation) 1994: The Lion King (Original Movie Soundtrack) 1997: California Dreamin (West Coast All Stars) 1998: Naturally (West Coast All Stars) 1999: ELT Songs from L.A. (compilation) 1999: In a Dream (Lionel's Dad) 2001: Radioactive (Ceremony Of Innocence) 2002: LA Project (Peter Friestedt) 2006: Avalon (The Richie Zito Project) 2008: LA Project II (Peter Friestedt) 2008: Holy God (Brian Doerksen) 2014: My Kind O' Lovin''' (Intelligent Music Project II) 2015: Touching the Divine (Intelligent Music Project III) 2015: CWF (Champlin, Williams, Friestedt) 2018: 10 Miles/CWF (Champlin, Williams, Friestedt) 2020: CWF II (Champlin, Williams, Friestedt) 2023: Carrie (Champlin, Williams, Friestedt)

Source music (excerpt) 1983: Return of the Jedi'' (lyrics for "Lapti Nek" and an unused source cue)

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1994 The Lion King Adult Simba (singing voice) Voice 2001 Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse Adult Simba Voice; direct-to-video 2002 Disney Sing-Along Songs: Very Merry Christmas Archive footage

Television Year Title Role Notes 2000-2002 Roswell Choir Member #1 1 episode

Video games Year Title Role Notes 1998 Lion King II: Simba's Pride: Active Play Adult Simba (singing voice) Voice 2010 Disney Sing It: Family Hits Archive footage

Film scores The following list consists of select films for which Joseph Williams composed the score and/or songs.

1990s Year Title Director Studio(s) Notes / Accolades 1993 The Waiter Doug Ellin Vance/Fellow Productions First film score1995 Embrace of the Vampire Anne Goursaud The Ministry of Film General Media Entertainment New Line Cinema Known As Joseph Stanley Williams Last Gasp Scott McGinnis The Kushner-Locke Company WarnerVision Films Castel Film Romania 1996 Poison Ivy II: Lily Anne Goursand New Line Cinema Cintel Pictures MG Entertainment Phat Beach Doug Ellin Connection III Entertainment Live Entertainment Orion Pictures The Legend of Gator Face Vic Sarin Showtime Networks The Ministry of Film Shoot the Moon Tom Hodges Sugardaddy Productions Known as Joseph Stanley Williams Snitch Keith Markinson Cinestage Productions 1997 Below Utopia Kurt Voss Cintel Films Subtopian Films Inc. Johnny Mysto: Boy Wizard Jeff Burr Castel Film Romania Full Moon Entertainment The Kushner-Locke Company 1998 Butter Peter Gathings Bunche Butter Films Inc. Cintel Pictures World International Network 1999 From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money Scott Spiegel Los Hooligans Productions A Band Apart Dimension Films Known as Joseph Stanley Williams Judgment Day John Terlesky Cintel Films Judgment Cinema Inc.

2000s Year Title Director Studio(s) Notes / Accolades 2000 Chain of Command John Terlesky Cinetel Films Chain of Command Inc. Known as Joseph Stanley Williams2001 Last Request Tom Hodges Kismet Productions Known as Joseph Stanley Williams Guardian John Terlesky Cintel Films Known as Joseph Stanley Williams2002 Another Life Tracey D'Arcy Another Life Productions Known as Joseph Stanley Williams MalevolentJohn Terlesky Burg/Koules Productions Cintel Films Known as Joseph Stanley Williams 2003 Written in Blood Cintel Films 2004 Soccer Dog: European Cup Sandy Tung John Brister Productions Known as Joseph Stanley Williams Composed with Steve Porcaro 2005 The Golden Blaze Bryon E. Carson 120dB Films Aurum Digital Entertainment DH Institute of Media Arts Known as Joseph Stanley Williams 2006 No I in SecurityEric A. LeeFoursquare and 7 Productions 2007 Real Estate Super Man

Personal life Williams is married to Amye Troyer. Together they have three daughters named Sarah, Hannah, and Emma.