Me at eighteen months old, 1949. (© Santana Archives)
(L to R) Jorge, Maria, and Lety, 1959. (© Santana Archives)
Nina Matilde—my mom’s aunt, who named me “El Cristalino.” (© Santana Archives)
Josefina Barragán de Santana. (© Santana Archives)
José Santana (rear center with violin), Uncle Juan Santana (with cello), and José’s band, 1945. This was the kind of Mexican orchestra dad started in; he didn’t play mariachi music until we moved to Tijuana. (© Santana Archives)
My dad’s handwritten note on the back of the photo.
My dad, me, and our dog Tony in Tijuana, 1958. (© Santana Archives)
“Mr. 50¢ a Song”
Me at twelve years old, on violin, in Tijuana, Mexico, August 30, 1959. (© Santana Archives)
This was one of my first gigs with my father, playing a fiftieth-anniversary party in Tijuana, Baja California, in 1958, looking like Cosa Nostra enforcers. (© Santana Archives)
The Strangers, Tijuana, Mexico, 1961. I’m on bass, next to the drummer. (© Santana Archives)
My fourteen-year-old school picture, Tijuana, June 20, 1961. (© Santana Archives)
Salon MX, Mission Street between 22nd and 23rd Streets, San Francisco, 1962.
With Danny Haro and Albert Rodriguez. (© Santana Archives)
Santana: (L to R) Gregg Rolie, me, and Marcus Malone, 1968. (© Jim Marshall Photography LLC)
Me in 1968. (© Coni Beeson)
Another photo from the same shoot. (© Coni Beeson)
The band that started it all! (L to R) Me, Marcus Malone, Gregg Rolie, David Brown, and Doc Livingston. (© Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images)
The Woodstock, Santana, Abraxas, and Santana III band: (L to R) me, Michael Shrieve, Michael Carabello, Gregg Rolie, David Brown, and José “Chepito” Areas, 1970. (© Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images)
Performing at Woodstock, August 16, 1969. (© Ken Regan)
Bill Graham takes a break while we play at Woodstock. (© Baron Wolman)
Gregg Rolie and I play to the crowd while the cameras capture the Woodstock experience. (© Jim Marshall Photography LLC)
A few moments later. (© Jim Marshall Photography LLC)
My fingers on the “electric snake.” (© Photofest)
The snake talking back. (© Brandt Cotherman)
Santana at Altamont, December 6, 1969. (© Jim Marshall Photography LLC)
Santana and Clive Davis with double platinum album award, 1969. (Courtesy Sony Music Entertainment / Clive Davis)
Clive Davis’s letter to Bill Graham about Miles Davis and Santana, 1970. (Courtesy Sony Music Entertainment / Clive Davis)
Michael Bloomfield, Coke Escovedo, and me at the Fillmore, July 4, 1971. (© Jim Marshall Photography LLC)
Me in Japan, 1973. (© Santana Archives)
Armando Peraza and me backstage in Japan, 1973. (© Santana Archives)
B. B. King and I meet for the first time, backstage at Winterland, 1973. (© Steve Caraway Images)
John McLaughlin and me at CBS Studios, 1973. (© Hugh Lelihan Browne)
John McLaughlin and me, 1973. (© Santana Archives)
Eric Clapton and me, 1975. (© Santana Archives)
Jerry Garcia and me at Bill Graham’s house in 1976. (© Michael Zagaris)
Bob Dylan and me at the Warfield, November 13, 1980. (© Alvan Meyerowitz)
Bill Graham and me, Europe, 1984. (© Ken Regan)
(L to R, top row) Tony, Irma, Maria, my dad and mom; (bottom row) Jorge, Lety, me, and Laura, 1982. (© Deborah Santana)
(Clockwise) Alphonso Johnson, Alex Ligertwood, David Sancious, Raul Rekow, Chester C. Thompson, Chester D. Thompson, Orestes Vilató, Greg Walker, me, and Armando Peraza, 1984. (© Jim Marshall Photography LLC)
Salvador and me at a video shoot in San Francisco, 1985. (© Ken Friedman)
“I see your brain. I see what you are thinking.” Sentient Salvador, 1987. (© Santana Archives)
“Are you ready for me?” Stellabella, 1987. (© Santana Archives)
Stella and Salvador, 1988. (© Santana Archives)
“Ready for the world.” Angelica, 1992. (© Daniel Valdez)
Angelica Faith, 1996. (© Santana Archives)
(L to R, top row) Me, Irma, my mom and dad, Tony, Laura; (bottom row) Lety, Jorge, and Maria, 1988. (© Deborah Santana)
(L to R) Alphonso Johnson, Michael Shrieve, Chester Thompson, José “Chepito” Areas, Armando Peraza, me, and Gregg Rolie, backstage in 1988. (© Ken Friedman)
Performing at San Quentin Prison on December 10, 1988. (© Mark Brady.com )
With my mother in San Rafael in 1988. (© Santana Archives)
Sitting in with Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble at the Oakland Coliseum, December 1989. (© Jay Blakesberg)
José and Josefina’s fiftieth anniversary, 1990. (© Santana Archives)
José and his sons: (L to R) José, me, Jorge, and Tony, 1990. (© Santana Archives)
(L to R) Salvador, Angelica, Deborah, me, Stella, and Champ the dog, 1991. (© Linda J. Russell )
Bill Graham and me conversing onstage in 1991. (© Santana Archives)
Clive Davis and me at the Grammys, February 23, 2000. (© Rick Diamond)
“Supernatural Evening with Santana”: (L to R) Everlast (aka Erik Schrody), Sincere (aka David McRae), Wayne Shorter, Money Harm (aka Marvin Moore-Hough), me, Rob Thomas, Sarah McLachlan, Dave Matthews, and Carter Beauford, 2000. (© Neal Preston)
(L to R) Deborah, me, Stella, and Angelica, 2000. (© Mark Seliger)
Josefina, Dolores Huerta, and José José at the Latin Grammys in 2000. (© Santana Archives)
Gary Rashid and me in 2003. (© Santana Archives)
Hal Miller and Kitsaun King backstage, 2003. (© Santana Archives)
Getting down with the Universal Tone. Sitting in with Buddy Guy at the San Francisco Blues Festival, September 26, 2004. (© Gabriel Bronsztein)
(L to R) Chad Wilson, Gary Rashid, Chester Thompson, Tony “TK” Kilbert, and me in Hawaii, 2007. (© Hal Miller)
Embracing the future: Cindy and me on our wedding day in Maui, December 19, 2010. (© Jimmy Bruch)
Sealed with a kiss. (© Jimmy Bruch)
Onstage in 2011. (© Gary Miller)
Martin Sandoval and me at Santuario de Luz, 2012. (© Santana Archives)
Me, Cindy, and Claude Nobs, 2011. (© Michael Vrionis)
Dolores Huerta, me, Angelica, Cindy, and Juana Chavez, December 2012. (© Santana Archives)
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama greet Kennedy Center Honoree Carlos Santana and family in the Blue Room during the Kennedy Center Honors reception, December 8, 2013. (© Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
Santana Band, 2014: (L to R) Pepe Jiménez, Tony Lindsay, Benny Rietveld, Karl Perazzo, Tommy Anthony, me, Jeff Cressman, Paoli Mejias Ramos, Bill Ortiz, David K. Mathews, and Andy Vargas. (© Libby Fabro)
(L to R) Hal Miller, me, and Ashley Kahn in Woodstock, New York, June 15, 2014. (© Benny Rietveld)