He is a singer, keyboardist, producer and composer born David Frank Paich in Los Angeles, California, to a family where his father was the composer Marty Paich.
He was first taught music by his father when he was eight years old and he took studies in the piano the whole time he was at high school. He then went on to take studies in musical composition at USC as well as taking private tuition.
In 1974 he received an Emmy Award for the song Light the Way written with his father for the series Ironside.
He worked as a session musician and songwriter during the 1970s and in 1977 won his first Grammy Award for the hit song “Lowdown” which he co-wrote with its singer Boz Scaggs. He also co-wrote the Boz Scaggs hits “Lido Shuffle” and “What Can I Say”.
Also in 1977 he and Jeff Porcaro put together the band Toto which went on to have worldwide success with chart topping songs such as “Africa”, Hold the Line” and “Rosanna”. This led to him also winning 6 Grammy Awards for his work as producer, arranger and artists with the group after the release of their successful album Toto IV.
Outside of his work with Toto he started making his name as a composer for music used in movie and TV soundtracks. These include Black Rain, Dune, First Blood, Metro, Shark Tale, Shirley Valentine and XXX. He has written music for the PBS Special on John Quincy Adams and in 2008 wrote music for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In 2009 he co-produced a new song for George Benson and also performed at the Millennium Development Goals Awards.
His work as a session musician, songwriter and/or arranger has seen him working with countless artists that include Patti Austin, Colin Blunstone, Elkie Brooks, Brothers Johnson, Jackson Browne, Kim Carnes, Bill Champlin, Chanson, Alice Cooper, Steve Cropper, Kiki Dee, Jackie DeShannon, Donovan, Randy Edelman, Yvonne Elliman, The Emotions, Far Corporation, Foreigner, David Foster, Aretha Franklin, Lowell George, Lesley Gore, Heart, Jim Horn, Julio Iglesias, James Ingram, Jefferson Airplane, Steve Lukather, Melissa Manchester, Motley Crue, Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson, Alexander O’Neal, Dolly Parton, Pink, The Pointer Sisters, Billy Preston, Artimus Pyle, The Righteous Brothers, Timothy B. Schmit, Seals & Crofts, John Sebastian, Feargal Sharkey, Sonny & Cher, Sparks, Dusty Springfield, Donna Summer, The Tubes, Tina Turner, USA for Africa, Steve Vai and Andy Williams among many more.
The albums he has worked on are numerous but aside from the 18 released by Toto a very small selection of them include So Far So Good by Bryan Adams, In the City of Angels by Jon Anderson, Diamonds and Rust by Joan Baez, Give Me the Night by George Benson, Southern Nights by Glen Campbell, Change of Heart by Eric Carmen, Ultimate Hits Collection by Ray Charles, Heart of Stone by Cher, Very Best of Chicago: Only the Beginning by Chicago, Civilised Man by Joe Cocker, Beautiful Noise by Neil Diamond, Long Train Runnin’ by The Doobie Brothers, Right There by Lamont Dozier, I Hear Music by England Dan and John Ford Coley, Earthbound by Fifth Dimension, Inside Job by Don Henley, Hai Hai by Roger Hodgson, Tracks of Life by The Isley Brothers, Thriller by Michael Jackson, Victory by The Jacksons, The Fox by Elton John, From Q With Love by Quincy Jones, Motherlode by Loggins & Messina, Ultimate Collection by Michael McDonald, Photograph by Melanie, Try This by Pink, Alien Invasion: Space and Beyond, Vol. 2 by Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, Louder than Words by Lionel Richie, Muddy Water Blues by Paul Rodgers, Baby It’s Me by Diana Ross, Thunder in My Heart by Leo Sayer, Silk Degrees by Boz Scaggs, Pretzel Logic by Steely Dan, Vagabond Heart by Rod Stewart, Curtis Stigers by Curtis Stigers, Streisand Superman by Barbara Streisand, Gold by Donna Summer, Meanwhile by 10cc, Songs of The Beatles by Sarah Vaughan.
He remained with Toto for the whole of their time together until they split up in 2008 but they got back together and he rejoined them in 2010 and performed with them in concert until 2019.
Glen Campbell Recordings
Honestly Loved(Leo Graham/Glen Castleberry)
Capitol Records 3808 (US 45)
Houston (I’m Comin’ To See You) (David Paich)
Capitol 3808 (US 45)
Southern Nights (Allen Toussaint)
Capitol 4376 S93475A
Sources:
- http://www.toto99.com/band/david/david.shtml
- https://www.facebook.com/paich99
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Paich
- http://www.yamaha.com/artists/davidpaich.html
- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0656673/
- http://www.toto99.com/disco/daviddisco.shtml
- http://www.discogs.com/artist/David+Paich
- http://www.allmusic.com/artist/david-paich-mn0000183565/credits