Jeff Porcaro accomplished much in his life – both in music and outside the field – but his legacy was cut short by a heart attack at the young age of 38.

Born Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro on April 1, 1954, in Hartford, Conn., he was the eldest son of renowned Los Angeles session drummer Joe Porcaro. The family certainly is a musical one; Jeff’s brothers Mike and Steve are active session musicians, themselves. (Jeff Porcaro also left behind a younger sister, Joleen.)

By the age of 7, Porcaro was playing the drums seriously. Lessons began of course at the tutelage of his father, but the youngster also studied with Bob Zimmitti and Rich Lapore. He displayed impeccable rhythm and a versatility that made his work applicable across all genres of music.

At the ripe old age of 17, Porcaro got his first professional gig, backing Sonny and Cher in their touring band. He went on to perform with Steely Dan on several albums, but would find his fortune when he and childhood friends Steve Lukather and David Paich launched the band Toto.

Despite numerous rumors and other curious stories, the band’s name was derived from the Latin word for “all-encompassing.” It seemed a fitting name for a group formed by accomplished studio musicians who could – and did, on this album and all others – dabble in all sorts of music, from rock and pop to funk, soul and jazz.

The group would score a top-5 hit almost immediately when Toto’s first single from its 1978 self-titled album, the song “Hold The Line,” reached No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts. The band’s biggest hit came with 1982’s album “Toto IV,” when the single “Africa” topped the U.S. Hot 100 at No. 1; “Africa” reached No. 3 in the U.K. Toto nearly scored a pair of chart-toppers from the album, but the second big hit, “Roseanna,” peaked at No. 2 in the States.

Considered one of the more innovative percussionists of his era, Porcaro was sought out to perform with numerous artists. His list of collaborations reads like a who’s who of global music: The Bee Gees; Paul McCartney; Michael Jackson; Madonna; Bonnie Raitt; Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler; Pink Floyd and two of its members, David Gilmour and Roger Waters; Boz Scaggs; Paul Anka; Eric Clapton; Joe Walsh; Lionel Richie; Earth, Wind & Fire; and Bruce Springsteen, among many others. Richard Marx dedicated his song “One Man” to Porcaro, saying he was the best drummer the pianist/vocalist had ever worked with.

Away from the stage and studio, Porcaro married Susan Norris, an L.A. television newscaster, on Oct. 22, 1983. The couple had three sons, Christopher Joseph (born July 3, 1984), Miles Edwin Crawford (June 12, 1986) and Nico Hendrix (Dec. 26, 1991).

Porcaro’s life was cut short on Aug. 5, 1992, while working with a pesticide in the yard of his Los Angeles County home. Porcaro suffered an allergic reaction to the susbstance, which resulted in heart attack. An autopsy revealed both a small trace of cocaine (it is disputed whether Porcaro had used the drug at any time recently, if at all), but more importantly, the autopsy discovered a serious heart condition that had gone undiagnosed.

Poracaro’s funeral on Aug. 10, 1992, in the Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills Cemetery, was attended by some 1,500 people. A Jeff Porcaro Memorial Fund was established to benefit the music and art departments of Grant High School in L.A., where Porcaro was a student in the early 1970s. A memorial concert to establish an educational trust fund for Porcaro’s three sons was held at Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles later that year, headlined by Scaggs, Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald, Don Henley, George Harrison, Eddie Van Halen and, of course, Porcaro’s bandmates in Toto.