Why is santana famous

In San Francisco, he got the chance to see his idols, most notably B. King, perform live. He was also introduced to a variety of new musical influences, including jazz and folk music, and witnessed the growing hippie movement centered in San Francisco in the s. After several years spent working as a dishwasher in a diner and busking for spare change, Santana decided to become a full-time musician.

Credits: Koh Hasebe. Here are eight facts that you may not have known about the musician: 1. The first instrument Santana ever played was a violin. Santana is pictured here in , centre, playing the violin at 10 years old:. Santana is one of very few bands named after their guitarist. Carlos Santana is an avid reader. He is married to his current touring drummer. Santana received two significant honours in Carlos won a total of 10 Grammys.

Santana owns a restaurant chain named Maria Maria. Carlos became a naturalized American citizen in In San Francisco, the young guitarist got the chance to see his idols, most notably King, perform live. He was also introduced to a variety of new musical influences, including jazz and international folk music, and witnessed the growing hippie movement centered in San Francisco in the s. After several years spent working as a dishwasher in a diner and playing for spare change on the streets, Santana decided to become a full-time musician.

In , he formed the Santana Blues Band, with fellow street musicians David Brown and Gregg Rolie bassist and keyboard player, respectively. With their highly original blend of Latin-infused rock, jazz, blues, salsa and African rhythms, the band—which quickly became known simply as Santana—gained an immediate following on the San Francisco club scene. The band's early success, capped off by a memorable performance at Woodstock in , led to a recording contract with Columbia Records, then run by Clive Davis.

Their first album, Santana , spurred by a Top 10 single, "Evil Ways," went triple platinum, selling more than four million copies and remaining on the Billboard charts for more than two years. As the band's personnel changed frequently, Santana the band came to be associated almost exclusively with Santana himself—who soon became the only remaining member of the original trio—and his psychedelic guitar riffs. In addition to his work with his band, Santana recorded and performed with a number of other high-profile musicians, notably drummer Buddy Miles, pianist Herbie Hancock and guitarist John McLaughlin.

Along with McLaughlin, Santana became a devoted follower of the spiritual guru Sri Chinmoy during the early s. Disillusioned with the heady, drug-addled world of s rock music, Santana turned to Chinmoy's teachings of meditation and to a new kind of spiritually-oriented music, marked by a popular jazz album he recorded with McLaughlin entitled Love Devotion Surrender and released in early Throughout the s and early s, Santana and his band released a string of successful albums in their unique style.

Notable projects of this time period included Amigos and Zebop! Nevertheless, Santana earned critical acclaim throughout the decade, particularly for the solo album Blues for Salvador , which earned the guitarist his first Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Performance.

He toured extensively, playing in sold out auditoriums and on tours like LiveAid and Amnesty International Though he ended his association with Chinmoy in , Santana remained intensely spiritual, especially during his live performances.

In , he played at the commemorative concert at Woodstock, 25 years after his band's transformative performance at the original festival.