In 1982, after performing in several local cover bands, Soto recorded several songs as lead singer for the band Kanan. In 1984, Soto provided vocals for virtuoso guitarist
Yngwie Malmsteen's debut album
Rising Force and his next album
Marching Out a year later. Soto has performed with a wide variety of bands, including Panther,
Axel Rudi Pell, Eyes,
Talisman,
Takara, Humanimal, Human Clay,
Kryst The Conqueror, Redlist,
Dewa 19, The Boogie Knights,
Soul SirkUS and Octavision. As a session musician, Soto also performed backing vocals for artists such as
Lita Ford,
Steelheart,
Glass Tiger,
House of Lords,
Stryper, and
Saigon Kick. He also sang for the fictional band
Steel Dragon, which featured
Zakk Wylde,
Jeff Pilson and
Jason Bonham for the soundtrack of the movie
Rock Star along with
Michael Matijevic of the band
Steelheart, whose second album featured Soto on background vocals. Soto performed at the 2000 annual OIQFC 'Freddie Mercury Birthday Party' at Reading in the UK, where he performed "Dragon Attack" with
Brian May. Since then, Soto has joined Queen sideman
Spike Edney's band, the Spike All Stars. Soto then appeared with Brian May and
Roger Taylor at the 'Hollywood Walk of Fame' bash for the Official International Queen Fan Club. In 2012, Taylor hired Soto as one of the four singers chosen for the official tribute band
Queen Extravaganza. The band was formed via internet auditions and features
Freddie Mercury soundalike
Marc Martel. Soto and singer Yvan Pedneault were added to the lineup to augment the selected singers, in an effort to better emulate Queen songs live. However, Soto only did one tour with the group; they continued with a smaller production and line up. Soto's solo album
Damage Control was released on
Frontiers Records in March 2012. His next venture was a band eponymously named
SOTO, a new band where he could flex his muscles with a modern, Power Metal vibe. "Inside The Vertigo" was released on January 30, 2015, with earMUSIC. The album was co-written alongside
Gus G, Mike Orlando and other members of his solo band at that time who were invited to the newly merged SOTO. In 2016, they released
DIVAK on earMUSIC and embarked on a World Tour which included supporting
Winery Dogs in May 2016 in South America. This support slot would serve as the chance for Winery Dogs drummer
Mike Portnoy to 'scout' Soto for the venture that would become
Sons of Apollo. SOTO recorded and released their third studio album 'Origami' in 2019 with new bassist Tony Dickinson, who replaced the recently deceased David Z, who died in 2017, as a touring member of
Adrenaline Mob. In 2015, Soto recorded vocals for
Joel Hoekstra's 13, contributing to the album
Dying to Live. Soto split vocal duties with
Russell Allen on the album. In 2018, SOTO recorded their third album
Origami, released in May 2019. Soto released another solo album,
Retribution in November 2017. In early 2020 he completed work on his 7th solo album as well as scheduled a live album for release in July. 2020 saw the release of 2 solo albums on Frontiers Records,
"Jeff Scott Soto - Loud & Live In Milan 2019", recorded live at the annual Frontiers Rock Festival and
"Wide Awake (In My Dreamland)" co-written and produced by
Alessandro Del Vecchio. In 2021, he released an album titled "The Duets Collection - Volume 1" in which he re-recorded songs throughout his vast career as vocal duets with the likes of
Eric Martin,
Dino Jelusick,
Russell Allen,
Johnny Gioeli, Nathan James, Erik Martensson, and others on the Frontiers label. 2022 saw Soto release his seventh studio solo album "Complicated".
Talisman Soto was one of the founding members of
Talisman in 1989. He was in the group up until their disbandment in 2007. Talisman regrouped in December 2019 to record a tribute track for bassist
Marcel Jacob on the 10th anniversary of his death.
Journey In 2006, Soto replaced
Steve Augeri in
Journey after Augeri left the tour due to an acute throat infection. After months of being a tour replacement, Soto was officially hired as the band's singer in December 2006. However, the stint was short-lived, as he was fired from the band on June 12, 2007. Soto stated on his website "it seems they wanted something different than I brought to the table. No love lost though, they know what's best for the preservation of their legacy." He later mentioned the gig did not work out because former vocalist
Steve Perry was still alive and could hypothetically rejoin the band, hurting fan expectations of any replacement singers. Soto has continually toured with the group, stating "I will be a part of Trans-Siberian Orchestra as long as they'll have me." and
Retransmission (2021). W.E.T. also released a live album
Live One – In Stockholm (2014), however in interviews Soto has since said that W.E.T. never intends to tour and is primarily a studio project.
Sons of Apollo In May 2017, he joined a
progressive metal supergroup named
Sons of Apollo with
Derek Sherinian, bassist
Billy Sheehan, drummer
Mike Portnoy and guitarist
Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal. Their debut album,
Psychotic Symphony, was released October 20, 2017, with
Inside Out/
Sony. After releasing a live DVD/album in 2019, 'Live With The Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony',
Sons of Apollo released their second album
MMXX in January 2020. They started the World Tour early 2020 but was interrupted 4 shows into their European tour by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Octavision In 2020, alongside his Sons Of Apollo co-bandmate Billy Sheehan, Soto was invited by a
Glendale, California based
Armenian guitarist Hovak Alaverdyan to participate in his progressive metal project Octavision. There, Soto performed vocal duties on two tracks - "Coexist" and "Apocalyptus". The album titled
Coexist was released on December 29, 2020. ==Personal life==