Carlos Santana By:Asia Wolfe

Carlos Augusto Alves Santana Born: July 20, 1947 in Autlan de Navarro, Jalisco, Mexico Parents: Jose Santana and Josefina Barragan Siblings: Two brothers: Antonio and Jorge Four Sisters: Laura, Irma, Leticia, and Maria

Carlos Santana.....the kid who grew up to be a musical genius and one exceptional human being !

Family Carlos’ father played the trumpet, and young Carlos continued the family’s musical heritage, originally learning the violin before switching to the guitar when he was eight years old. After a family move to Tijuana, Santana begin playing in clubs and bars: he remained in Tijuana when his family moved to San Francisco, but joined them at age thirteen.

Becoming Famous 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 Rodriguez (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 at the legendary Fillmore (later Fillmore West), where many of the great San Francisco bands began. Santana's recording debut occurred on The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper with Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield.

Becoming Famous Carlos Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band the Santana blues band, which created a highly successful blend of salsa, rock, blues, and jazz fusion. Their sound featured his often high-pitched and 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 sold an estimated 80 million albums worldwide.

Columbia Records Soon signed to Columbia Records, the band released a largely instrumental, self-titled album, Santana in 1969. The group at this point consisting of Carlos Santana (guitar), Gregg Rolie (keyboards and vocals), David Brown (bass guitar), Michael Shrieve (drums), José "Chepito" Areas (percussion) and Michael Carabello (percussion). On the tour to support the album, the band played at Woodstock Music and Art Festival. They were one of the surprises of the festival; their set was legendary, and later the exposure of their eleven-minute instrumental "Soul Sacrifice" in the Woodstock film and soundtrack albums vastly increased Santana's popularity. Santana became a huge hit, reaching number four on the U.S. album chart, and the catchy single "Evil Ways" reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Group In 1970 the group reached its early commercial peak with their second album, Abraxas, which reached number one on the album charts and went on to sell over four million copies. The innovative Santana musical blend made a number-four hit out of English blues-rockers Fleetwood Mac's "Black Magic Woman", and a number-thirteen hit out of salsa champion Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va". Abraxas has since been placed on several "best albums of all time" lists. The classic Santana lineup of their first two albums was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

Humanitarian Not only is Carlos Santana known as a musical genius, but he also serves his community as a humanitarian. He and his wife, Deborah founded the Milagro Foundation which provides financial assistance for educational, medical and housing needs of children all over the world.

Successful Albums Santana (1969) US: 2x Platinum Abraxas (1970) US: 5x Platinum 3(1971) US: 2x Platinum Love Devotion Surrender (1973; C.S. with John McLaughlin) U.S.: Gold Welcome (1973) US: Gold Amigos (1976) US: Gold Festival (1977) US: Gold Moonflower (1977) US: 2x Platinum Supernatural (1999) US: 15x Platinum Shaman (2002) US: 2x Platinum All That I Am (2005) US: Gold

Father of Salvador, Stella and Angelica

"The most valuable possession you can own is an open heart "The most valuable possession you can own is an open heart. The most powerful weapon you can be is an instrument of peace."  

Carlos Santana has an star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!

Interesting Facts Has, together with wife Deborah, founded a nonprofit organization called "The Milagro Foundation" that world widely provides financial aid for educational, medical and other needs of children Learned to play the guitar when he was 8 years old; father was a professional violinist. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 (as a member of Santana). Won the 2003 Pop Collaboration with Vocals Grammy for his collaboration with Michelle Branch on the song, "The Game of Love".

Interesting Facts Became the first Hispanic to win a Grammy for "Record of the Year" in 2000 when he shared the honor with Matchbox 20 lead singer 'Rob Thomas' for the song "Smooth." His 1999 album, "Supernatural," won 9 Grammies that year. Says he doesn't even remember giving his (well-received) performance at Woodstock in 1969; with his band not scheduled to appear for several hours, he'd taken a dose of LSD, only to have his band bumped up on the schedule as it was taking effect. He was voted the 90th Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Artist of all time by Rolling Stone. Is part of the songwriting organization BMI, and is a BMI icon.

Works Cited Page http://www.iol.ie/~shango/ http://www.santana.com/frameset.html http://www.vhl.com/artists/az/santana/bio.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Santana#Early_life_and_career