Carlos Augusto Alves Santana (born July 20, 1947 in Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, Mexico) is a Mexican–American Grammy Award-winning musician and Latin-rock guitarist.
He became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his eponymous band Santana, which created a highly successful blend of salsa, rock, blues, and jazz fusion. Their sound featured his high-pitched, clean guitar lines set against Latin instrumentation such as timbales and congas. Santana continued to work in these forms over the following decades, and experienced a sudden resurgence of popularity and critical acclaim in the late 1990s. Over his career he has sold an estimated 80 million albums worldwide.
Early life and career Carlos Santana's father was a mariachi violinist and young Carlos learned the violin originally, but switched to the guitar when he was eight years old. After a family move to Tijuana, Santana began playing in clubs and bars; he remained in Tijuana when his family moved to San Francisco, California, but joined them at the age of thirteen.
At the end of 1966, Tom Frazier (guitar) wanted to form a new rock band. Frazier joined Carlos Santana (guitar/vocals), Mike Carabello (percussion), Rod Harper (drums), Gus Rodrigues (bass guitar), and Seattle native Gregg Rolie (organ/vocals), to form the Santana Blues Band. After a while the name was shortened to just Santana. Promoter Bill Graham saw them and the band debuted in June 1968 a.....
