7 Awesome Carlos Santana Collaborations
Carlos Santana has been on top of the rock charts since his breakout performance at Woodstock. As soon as you hear his signature guitar tone, you can unmistakably tell it’s Carlos playing guitar on the track. To celebrate his birthday, we put together some of our favorite collaborations Carlos has done over the years.
“Smooth” ft. Rob Thomas
The reason we started our list with “Smooth” is simple—it was a monster hit! The single—co-written by Rob—could be heard everywhere during the turn-of-the-millennium, making it the No. 2 Hot 100 song of all time.
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” ft. India.Arie and Yo-Yo Ma
In 2010, Carlos released a tribute album to honor the greatest guitar classics of all time called, Guitar Heaven. Carlos teamed up with India.Arie on the vocals and cellist, Yo-Yo Ma for this beautiful tribute to George Harrison.
“The Game of Love” ft. Michelle Branch
Carlos and Michelle teamed up for the release of the single, “The game of love” in 2002. The two had a great deal of success with the song, earning a Grammy Award for “Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals”. Fun Fact: This song was originally recorded with Tina Turner recording the vocals. Previously unreleased, the version featuring Tina wasn’t released until 2007 on Santana’s album Ultimate Santana.
Carlos Santana & Lauryn Hill and Cee-Lo – “Do You Like The Way”
Carlos turned to Lauryn Hill for this 1999 song with Cee-Lo. The song was featured on the album, Supernatural. Lauryn not only sang on the track but she also produced the track and wrote it as well.
“Put Your Lights On” ft. Everlast
Carlos teamed up with Everlast to record this track for his 1999 release, Supernatural. The duo earned a Grammy the following year for “Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal”.
Michael Jackson & Carlos Santana – “Whatever Happens”
Carlos was called into the studio to record guitar tracks for Michael Jackson’s 2001 album, Invisible. The two can be heard on the track “Whatever Happens”. What an amazing thing it is to hear two masters of their craft on the same track!
“Iron Lion Zion” ft. Ziggy Marley, ChocQuibTown
What a great song! As soon as you press play, your head starts to instantly bob as Carlos and Ziggy take you back in time with this Bob Marley original tune. This track was released in 2014 and proves to everyone that Carlos still has it.
Brett Booth is a rock ‘n’ roll writer who, when he doesn’t have a pen in his hand, you can usually find him strumming a guitar or sipping a homebrew.
