Carlos Santana,
a legendary guitarist, collapsed on stage during an on-air concert Tuesday near
Detroit, Michigan. The 74-year-old guitarist was taken to a hospital’s
emergency department and kept there for observation. He later wrote in a Facebook
post that he “forgot to eat and drink water” and “so I was dehydrated and
passed out”. His manager told the BBC that Santos was doing well.

Who is Carlos
Santana?

Born on July
20, 1947 in Mexico, Carlos Santana rose to fame in the 1960s and 70s. His band “Santana”
is credited with having married rock and roll to jazz. Santana’s music featured
blues-based melodic lines set against African and Latin American rhythms played
on percussion instruments such as timbales and congas.

The Santana
family moved to the United States Carlos was young and at the age of age, the
guitarist “fell under the influence” of BB King, Javier Batiz and other blues
singers.

The Santana
band later went on to perform at the Woodstock Music and Art Festival even
before its debut album released. At Woodstock, the band performed an 11-minute
performance of “Soul Sacrifice,” a throbbing instrumental.

The band’s
first album, also called “Santana”, released in 1969 and became a huge hit,
coming up at number four of the US Billboard 200.

The band’s
composition kept changing over the years as people left and new people kept
coming in. The next big break for Santana was the album “Caravanserai” in 1972.
This was a critical moment for Santana’s music as it initiated its movement
into jazz fusion.

Subsequently,
Santana’s intense interest in meditation brought him closer to spirituality. He
became close to a spiritual advisor named Sri Chinmoy. However, after some
time, tensions between Santana’s lifestyle and the one Sri Chinmoy asked of his
disciples did not sit well together and he gradually moved away from the advisor.

Santana’s radio-friendly
music kept him around but he rose to commercial success again in the 1990s when
he kicked-off his new album titled “Spirits Dancing in the Flesh”.

Now, Santana is
regarded as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. He has also opened a
chain of restaurants in Mexico called ‘Maria, Maria’. On July 5, Santana
collapsed on stage during a performance.