Santana
The "classic" line-up in 1971. Left to right: Neal Schon, Gregg Rolie, Michael Shrieve, Michael Carabello, David Brown, Carlos Santana and José "Chepito" Areas.
Background information
Also known as	Santana Blues Band (1966–1967)
Origin	San Francisco, California, U.S.
Genres	Latin rock[1] blues rock[2] psychedelic rock[3] acid rock[4] Chicano rock[5] jazz fusion[6] yacht rock[7][8][9]
Years active	1966–present
Labels	Columbia Polydor Arista RCA Legacy Concord Suretone Reprise
Members	Carlos Santana Tommy Anthony Ray Greene David K. Mathews Paoli Mejías Karl Perazzo Benny Rietveld Cindy Blackman Santana Andy Vargas
Past members	Neal Schon Gregg Rolie Michael Shrieve Michael Carabello David Brown José "Chepito" Areas (see Personnel section for others)
Website	santana.com

Santana is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1966 by Mexican-born American guitarist Carlos Santana.^[10] The band has undergone various recording and performing line-ups in its history, with Santana being the only consistent member. After signing with Columbia Records, the band's appearance at the Woodstock Festival in 1969 increased their profile and they went on to record the critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums Santana (1969), Abraxas (1970) and Santana III (1971). These were recorded by the group's "classic" line-up, comprising organist and lead vocalist Gregg Rolie, percussionists José "Chepito" Areas and Michael Carabello, drummer Michael Shrieve and bassist David Brown. Hit songs of this period include "Evil Ways" (1970), "Black Magic Woman" (1970), "Oye Como Va" (1971) and the instrumental "Samba Pa Ti" (1973).

Following a change in line-up and musical direction in 1972, the band experimented with elements of jazz fusion on Caravanserai (1972), Welcome (1973) and Borboletta (1974). The band reached a new peak of critical and commercial success with their eighteenth album, Supernatural (1999), which included the Billboard Hot 100-number one singles "Smooth" (featuring Rob Thomas) and "Maria Maria" (featuring The Product G&B). The album peaked atop the charts in eleven countries and sold 12 million copies domestically. It won eight Grammy Awards at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, a record tied with Michael Jackson and three Latin Grammy Awards.^[11] In 2014, the "classic" line-up—with the exception of Brown, who died in 2000—reunited for Santana IV (2016) and the group continue to perform and record.

Santana is one of the best-selling groups of all time, with over 47 million certified records sold in the US and an estimated 100 million sold worldwide.^[12][13] Its discography includes 25 studio albums, 14 of which reached the US Top 10. In 1998, the line-up of Santana, Rolie, Carabello, Shrieve, Brown and Areas was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.^[14]