50 Fun Facts About Santana

In which US city was the band Santana formed in 1966?

Carlos was drawn to the city's hippie counterculture and originally called the group the Santana Blues Band.

Carlos Santana was born in Autlán de Navarro, in which Mexican state?

His father was a mariachi musician who taught him violin at five and guitar at eight; the family later moved to Tijuana.

How much was Santana paid for its 45-minute Woodstock set on 16 August 1969?

Their promoter agreed to help organise the festival only on condition that Santana was added to the bill.

Which throbbing 11-minute instrumental was the highlight of Santana's Woodstock set?

Its inclusion in the Woodstock film and soundtrack vastly increased the band's popularity.

'Black Magic Woman', Santana's 1970 hit, was originally written and recorded by which band?

The Santana version segues into Gábor Szabó's 'Gypsy Queen' almost lick for lick.

What was the title of Santana's second album, released in September 1970?

It spent six weeks at No. 1, stayed on the chart for 88 weeks and was later ranked among Rolling Stone's 500 greatest albums.

How many Grammy Awards did Supernatural win at the 2000 ceremony, tying a record held by Michael Jackson?

It also won three Latin Grammys and topped the charts in eleven countries.

Who sang and co-wrote 'Smooth', the lead single from Supernatural?

The Matchbox Twenty frontman's cha-cha number spent twelve weeks at No. 1 and was the last chart-topper of the 1990s.

Which R&B duo featured on Santana's second Hot 100 No. 1 from the 1999 comeback album?

The song spent ten weeks at No. 1 in the spring of 2000.

Two members of Santana's classic line-up, Gregg Rolie and Neal Schon, left in 1973 to found which band?

Rolie was Santana's original organist and lead vocalist; Schon had joined as a teenage guitar prodigy in 1971.

Which record label signed Santana in late 1968?

Carlos refused even to audition for Atlantic because he wanted to be on the same label as Miles Davis and Bob Dylan.

Which Latin-music-loving promoter championed Santana and managed them at the Fillmore?

He fired the band from the Fillmore in June 1967 after members showed up late for a gig supporting The Who, then went on to back them anyway.

'Evil Ways', Santana's first Hot 100 top-ten hit, covered which Latin jazz percussionist?

Their promoter suggested the band record it because he thought it would get radio airplay; it peaked at No. 9.

'Oye Como Va' was inducted into the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001. Which album did it come from?

The song is a Tito Puente composition and one of the band's two most enduring hits from that record.

Santana's 1972 album Caravanserai marked a strong shift toward which genre?

A CBS executive warned that it would sabotage their Top 40 status; it still went platinum over the years.

Which guru accepted Carlos Santana as a disciple in 1973 and gave him the name Devadip?

A fellow fusion guitarist made the introduction; Santana and his wife broke with the guru in 1982.

Santana recorded the 1973 album Love, Devotion, Surrender with which fusion guitarist?

Musicians from both Santana and the Mahavishnu Orchestra took part, along with two alumni of Miles Davis's Bitches Brew.

Santana's 1974 album Illuminations was a collaboration with the widow of which jazz giant?

Alice Coltrane's record veered into avant-garde free jazz and Indian classical influences.

Santana's 1977 album Moonflower had a hit cover of 'She's Not There', originally by which band?

Moonflower went double platinum in the US and was their first UK top-ten album since 1974.

Carlos Santana wrote the film score for which 1987 biopic of Ritchie Valens?

It starred Lou Diamond Phillips and let Santana pay tribute to the rock and roll he heard growing up in Tijuana.

Santana's 1987 solo record Blues for Salvador won a Grammy in which category?

It resurfaced on his 2025 collaborations retrospective.

Which jam band did Santana hire as his opening act in 1992, regularly inviting them to sit in?

Phish toured with Santana again in Europe in 1996.

Which record executive, who had earlier worked with Santana at his first label, signed him to Arista and pushed the star-studded Supernatural?

Santana had been without a recording contract before the deal.

Supernatural's Album of the Year win came how many years after Santana's previous No. 1 album, a record gap?

Santana III had topped the chart in 1971; Supernatural took eighteen weeks to climb from a No. 19 debut to No. 1.

At the 1998 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, Santana played 'Black Magic Woman' with its writer. Who was he?

He was inducted the same night as a founder of the band that first recorded the song.

Which singer featured on 'The Game of Love', the Grammy-winning lead single from 2002's Shaman?

It reached No. 5 on the Hot 100 and won Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals; Branch returned for 'I'm Feeling You' in 2005.

'Why Don't You & I', a top-ten hit from Shaman, was written by and featured which Nickelback frontman?

A remix with Alex Band of the Calling was combined with the original for chart purposes; Kroeger returned for 'Into the Night' in 2007.

Carlos Santana is credited with naming which amplifier company after saying a prototype 'really Boogies'?

His rig still combines a Mesa/Boogie Mark I with Dumble amps and, more recently, a Bludotone.

Which guitar maker has produced Carlos Santana signature models since 1988?

Their first Santana model, 'The Yellow', was followed by the 'Supernatural' and 'Shaman' editions.

What guitar did Carlos Santana play at Woodstock?

He had earlier busked and washed dishes to afford an SG after his Melody Maker was destroyed.

Carlos Santana proposed to his future wife Cindy Blackman on stage in 2010. What is her role in his band?

They married that December and live in Las Vegas.

What was the name of the upscale Mexican restaurant chain Carlos Santana co-founded in 2007?

Only the Walnut Creek, California, location was still open as of 2021.

Santana IV (2016) reunited the classic line-up for the first time in how many years?

Percussionist José 'Chepito' Areas was not invited, and bassist David Brown had died in 2000.

Santana's 2019 album Africa Speaks was produced by which famed producer?

It arrived on Concord Records shortly after the In Search of Mona Lisa EP.

Carlos Santana's first-ever Spanish-language album, released in 2014, was titled what?

A live version recorded in Guadalajara followed a few months later.

Carlos Santana played guitar on 'Whatever Happens', a 2001 track from which Michael Jackson album?

The track was revisited on Santana's 2025 collaborations retrospective.

Santana became the first songwriter honoured as a BMI Icon at which of BMI's ceremonies?

The 2005 honour recognises a 'unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers'.

Carlos Santana got his start as a roadie and bassist for Los TJ's, a Tijuana band led by whom?

He played bass only because Bátiz already had the guitar spot, and later left for another bar band so he could play guitar.

Santana's 1974 triple live album Lotus was recorded in which country?

CBS refused to release it in the US unless it was condensed, so Americans could only buy it as a pricey import.

Santana's 1971 Accra concert, filmed for Soul to Soul, marked which country's independence anniversary?

Later that year a Lima gig ended with their gear confiscated and the band deported from Peru.

Which 2009 video game features Carlos Santana as a playable character?

A live recording of 'No One to Depend On' is included in the game.

What is Santana's 2025 retrospective of collaborations titled?

It arrived on Candid Records ahead of the Oneness tours of North America and Europe.

Under what name did Carlos start his group in October 1966?

Columbia Records later shortened the name to simply Santana when it signed the group.

In which city did Santana headline a multi-year residency at the House of Blues?

Carlos and his wife, drummer Cindy Blackman, live in the city, and the Santana IV reunion set was filmed there in 2016.

Which instrument did Carlos Santana learn at age five, before taking up the guitar at eight?

His father was a mariachi musician and taught him both; younger brother Jorge also became a professional guitarist.

Santana's 1968 record deal followed an audition opening for which band?

Both Columbia and Atlantic were interested, and Columbia got the band after a December run of Fillmore shows was taped for a proposed live album.

How many times platinum did the RIAA certify Supernatural?

The album debuted at No. 19 and took eighteen weeks to reach No. 1, eventually selling around 30 million copies worldwide.

In which year did Carlos Santana become a naturalized US citizen?

He was born in Jalisco in 1947 and moved with his family to Tijuana and then San Francisco, where his father found steady work.

Whose composition 'Gypsy Queen' forms the second part of Santana's 1970 'Black Magic Woman'?

Santana's 2012 album Shape Shifter includes a tribute track called 'Mr. Szabo' played in the Hungarian jazz guitarist's style.

Why did Carlos Santana refuse to audition for Atlantic Records in 1968?

Columbia got the band instead, and Carlos went on to be influenced heavily by Davis's fusion work on Caravanserai.