Santana is an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1966 by Mexican-born guitarist Carlos Santana. The band has undergone various recording and performing line-ups in its history, with Santana being the only consistent member. In 1998, the lineup of Santana, Rolie, Carabello, Shrieve, Brown and Areas was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[1]
Santana is one of the best-selling groups of all time with an estimated 100 million albums sold worldwide.[2]
Santana was founded by eponymous guitarist Carlos Santana in late 1966, the band's first line-up included Sergio "Gus" Rodriguez on bass, Danny Haro on drums, and Michael Carabello on percussion. By February 1967, the band were joined by Tom Fraser on guitar and vocals, who also brought in Gregg Rolie on organ and vocals.[3] After losing out on a residency in June 1967, due to members not being committed. Santana and Rolie brought in new musicians.
Bold denotes members of the classic line-up.
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlos Santana | 1966–present | all releases | |||
| Benny Rietveld | bass | ||||
| Karl Perazzo | 1991–present | all release from Milagro (1992) onwards, except Live at the Fillmore 1968 (1997), The Very Best of Santana – Live in 1968 (2007) and The Woodstock Experience (2009) | |||
| Andy Vargas | 2000–present | all releases from All That I Am (2005) onwards, except The Very Best of Santana – Live in 1968 (2007) and The Woodstock Experience (2009) | |||
| Tommy Anthony | 2005–present | all releases from Guitar Heaven (2010) onwards | |||
| David K. Matthews | 2011–present | keyboards | all releases from Corazón (2014) onwards | ||
| Paoli Mejías | 2013–present | ||||
| 2015–present | drums | ||||
| Ray Greene | 2016–present |
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gregg Rolie | |||||
| Tom Fraser | 1966–1967 | guitars | none | ||
| Sergio "Gus" Rodriguez | bass | ||||
| Danny Haro | drums | ||||
| Michael Carabello | |||||
| Don Wehr | 1967 | drums | none | ||
| David Brown | bass | ||||
| Rod Harper | 1967 | drums | none | ||
| 1967–1969 | |||||
| Bob Livingston | 1967–1969 | drums | |||
| Johnny Rae | 1969 | none | |||
| José "Chepito" Areas | |||||
| Michael "Mike" Shrieve | |||||
| Freedom (1987) | |||||
| 1971–1972 | |||||
| Rico Reyes | 1971–1972 | ||||
| Tom Rutley | 1971–1972 | Caravanserai (1972) | |||
| James "Mingo" Lewis | 1971–1973 | ||||
| Victor Pantoja | 1971 | none | |||
| all releases from Caravanserai (1972) to Spirits Dancing in the Flesh (1990) | |||||
| Tom Coster | |||||
| Richard Kermode | 1972–1973 | keyboards | |||
| 1972–1974 | |||||
| 1973 | vocals | ||||
| drums | |||||
| Jules Broussard | 1974–1975 | saxophone | |||
| Greg Walker | vocals | ||||
| Raul Rekow | 1976–2013 | all releases from Festivál (1977) to Shape Shifter (2012), except Live at the Fillmore 1968 (1997), The Very Best of Santana – Live in 1968 (2007) and The Woodstock Experience (2009) | |||
| Festivál (1977) | |||||
| drums | |||||
| 1976 | vocals | none | |||
| Joel Badie | 1976 | Festivál (1977) | |||
| Byron Miller | bass | none | |||
| Pablo Tellez | 1976–1977 | ||||
| David Margen | 1977–1982 | ||||
| Chris Solberg | 1978–1980 | ||||
| Chris Rhyne | 1978–1979 | keyboards | Inner Secrets (1978) | ||
| 1978 | flute | none | |||
| 1979–1980 | |||||
| 1980–1987 | |||||
| Richard Baker | 1980–1982 | keyboards | |||
| Chester D. Thompson | 1983–2009 | all releases from Beyond Appearances (1985) to Shape Shifter (2012), except Live at the Fillmore 1968 (1997), The Very Best of Santana – Live in 1968 (2007), The Woodstock Experience (2009) and Guitar Heaven (2010) | |||
| Keith Jones | bass | none | |||
| 1984 | Beyond Appearances (1985) | ||||
| drums | |||||
| bass | |||||
| Sterling Crew | 1985–1986 | keyboards | Freedom (1987) | ||
| drums | |||||
| Billy Johnson | |||||
| vocals | |||||
| Myron Dove | Sacred Fire: Live in South America (1993) | ||||
| Vorriece Cooper | 1992–1993 | vocals | |||
| Oran Coltrane | 1992 | saxophone | none | ||
| Rodney Holmes | drums | ||||
| Tommie Bradford | 1994 | ||||
| 1995 | |||||
| Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez | 1997 | drums | Supernatural (1999) | ||
| Ricky Wellman | none | ||||
| William "Bill" Ortiz | 1999–2016 | trumpet | |||
| Jeff Cressman | 1999–2016 | trombone | all releases from Supernatural (1999) to Corazón: Live from México - Live It to Believe It (2014) | ||
| 2002–2013 | drums | ||||
| Christopher A. Scott | 2002–2005 | none | |||
| 2009–2010 | keyboards | Guitar Heaven (2010) | |||
| José "Pepe" Jimenez | 2013–2015 | drums | none |