Carlos Santana celebrates a big milestone birthday today. The legendary rock guitarist turns 75 and we’re taking a look back at his amazing career. Carlos was July 20th, 1947 in Autlán de Navarro in Jalisco, Mexico, and he learned to play violin at age five and the guitar at age eight.
Carlos’ family eventually emigrated to San Francisco, where he formed the Santana Blues Band in 1966, shortening it to simply Santana a few years later.
Santana have released 26 studio albums, the first one in 1969 and the most recent being in 2021. The band has also released several live albums and hits collections. Santana is a true global and multi-generational artist. Carlos has picked up numerous awards, including being the only artist to ever win Record of the Year at both the Grammys (with "Smooth" in 1999) and the Latin Grammys (for "Corazon Espinado" back in 2000).
Carlos and the original Santana band were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame back in 1998.
Carlos is also a humanitarian and champion of peace and spirituality. He has been married to his second wife, drummer Cindy Blackman, since 2010, and he has three children with his first wife, Deborah.
Last year Carlos underwent heart surgery, and his current tour with Earth, Wind & Fire had the postponement of eight shows after Carlos collapsed on stage in Detroit from dehydration. The tour will resume on Saturday in Paso Robles, California.
Carlos once commented on his appeal across the generations:
"I'm very grateful to see grandparents, parents, teenagers, little children, Apaches, Italians, Japanese, Palestines, everybody. The language is something that puts away flags. Like Jimi Hendrix said, 'Notes are more important than bullets.' So, I feel really grateful to see young people of all ages relate to our music."
Happy 75th birthday to Carlos Santana—a true music legend! Get more on Carlos Santana on iHeartRadio, keyword Santana.
[Source: Classic Hits Today]