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->''And it's just like the ocean under the moon\\
Oh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from you\\
You got the kind of lovin' that can be so smooth, yeah\\
Give me your heart, make it real, or else forget about it''
-->-- "Smooth" featuring '''Music/RobThomas'''

Santana is a Latin rock band formed in San Francisco in 1967 by lead guitarist and namesake Music/CarlosSantana. They first gained recognition after playing at UsefulNotes/{{Woodstock}} 1969, and became famous for their fusion of rock, salsa and jazz music, which is credited with pioneering the Chicano rock sound along with Music/{{War|Band}} and Malo (featuring Santana's brother Jorge Santana).

Their popularity dwindled after TheSeventies, but they made a huge comeback in the late '90s with the ''Supernatural'' album and the hit single "Smooth."

Throughout their history, Carlos Santana has been the band's only permanent member. In fact, he [[EnforcedTrope preferred]] the RevolvingDoorBand approach, since he desired working with a large lineup of top musicians; these musicians have included percussionist Armando Peraza, bassist David Brown, and drummer/singer Buddy Miles. Also worth noting is that in 1973, former Santana members Neal Schon and Gregg Rolie formed Music/{{Journey|Band}}, which started out as a Santana-like band but went on to become one of the biggest ArenaRock bands of TheEighties.

Also, from the ''Supernatural'' album through ''All That I Am'', lead vocals have (mostly) been provided by a rotating roster of guest musicians.

!!Discography:
* ''Santana'' (1969)
* ''Music/{{Abraxas|Album}}'' (1970)
* ''Santana'' (1971)[[note]]often known as ''Santana III'' or ''III'' to distinguish it from the debut album[[/note]]
* ''Caravanserai'' (1972)
* ''Welcome'' (1973)
* ''Borboletta'' (1974)
* ''Amigos'' (1976)
* ''Festival'' (1977)
* ''Inner Secrets'' (1978)
* ''Marathon'' (1979)
* ''Zebop!'' (1981)
* ''Shangó'' (1982)
* ''Beyond Appearances'' (1985)
* ''Freedom'' (1987)
* ''Spirits Dancing in the Flesh'' (1990)
* ''Milagro'' (1992)
* ''Supernatural'' (1999)
* ''Music/{{Shaman}}'' (2002)
* ''All That I Am'' (2005)
* ''Shapeshifter'' (2012)
* ''Corazón'' (2014)
* ''Santana IV'' (2016)
* ''Africa Speaks'' (2019)
* ''Blessings and Miracles'' (2021)

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!!Provides examples of:
* TheBusCameBack: ''Santana IV'' features the reunion of most of the original Santana band from their first three albums: Santana himself, plus Gregg Rolie, Neal Schon[[note]]Joined for the third album[[/note]], Mike Carabello and Michael Shrieve.
* CityShoutOuts: When the band played at Woodstock 1969, after the opening song "Waiting", Carlos Santana greeted the crowd and had a brief moment of confusion over what state he was in.
-->'''Carlos Santana:''' Thanks very much. It's nice to be here in New York. Are we-- we are in New York? Yeah...
* CoverAlbum: ''Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time''
* CoverVersion: Many of their songs on the early years, including "Black Magic Woman" by Music/FleetwoodMac, "Oye como va" by Music/TitoPuente, "She's Not There" by Music/TheZombies (originally appearing on ''Music/BeginHere''), "Stone Flower" by Tom Jobim and "Promise of a Fisherman" by Dorival Caymmi.
* EgocentricTeamNaming: He named his band after himself. {{Justified|Trope}} as this was per musicians' union rules requiring an established band leader.
* EpicRocking: "Soul Sacrifice" and "Dance Sister Dance (Baila mi hermana)", among others.
** The entire first side of "Caravanserai" is mixed together as a suite, with the highlight being the 6 minute instrumental "Song Of The Wind", which consists almost entirely of guitar soloing.
* FakeOutFadeOut: The instrumental "Soul Sacrifice" has one after about five minutes; a repeated keyboard theme fades out, then the guitar brings it back in, going on to a keyboard-hammering sound and a reprise of the main theme, then to another fake outro with a sudden stop, and then the real outro comes in.
* GenreMashup: Rock, salsa, blues,... it is all mixed together.
* GenreRoulette: ''Shaman'', big time.
* IAmTheBand: Carlos Santana is the only stable member.
* {{Instrumentals}}: A lot of their work. "Soul Sacrifice", "Europa", and "Samba pa' ti" are among the more well known ones.
* LimitedLyricsSong: "Oye Como Va" from ''[[Music/AbraxasAlbum Abraxas]]'' (1970) only has of these four verses in Spanish, repeated a few times in between many solos:
--> Oye cómo va
--> Mi ritmo
--> Bueno pa' gozar
--> Mulata
** In "Se Cabo" from the same album, the only lyrics are the title, repeated only four times.
** "No One to Depend On" only has two verses, each repeated many times
--> Ain't got nobody that I can depend on
--> Ain't got no one, no tengo a nadie

* MassiveMultiplayerCrossover: ''Supernatural'' and ''All That I Am'', and even moreso, ''Shaman''. Of course, given Carlos doesn't sing, there's always gonna be many a GuestStarPartyMember, but those were intentionally built on famous collaborators.
* RevolvingDoorBand: The band's website has a [[http://www.santana.com/Past-Players/ list of the many former members]].
* SiameseTwinSongs: "Black Magic Woman" is almost never played on the radio without its outro "Gypsy Queen". They're even indexed as one track on CD versions. On ''Abraxas'', this [[FadingIntoTheNextSong fades into]] "Oye como va", but these are generally played separately on the radio.
* SongStyleShift: Their version of "Black Magic Woman" speeds up for an epic instrumental outro, due to it being a medley with "Gypsy Queen", originally by Hungarian jazz guitarist Gábor Szabó.
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