What type of music is Carlos Santana known for?

Carlos Santana is best known for Latin rock, a style that blends rock guitar with Latin percussion and Afro-Cuban musical influences. His expressive electric-guitar sound made the genre internationally recognizable.

Santana’s breakthrough came with the band Santana, which formed in San Francisco in the 1960s. The group’s performance at Woodstock in 1969 helped establish its reputation, and its debut album, Santana, was released that same year. Songs such as “Evil Ways” combined rock instrumentation with congas, timbales, and other Latin rhythmic elements.

Santana’s music also draws from blues, jazz, psychedelic rock, and traditional Latin styles, so “Latin rock” is a broad description rather than a complete list of his influences. That variety sometimes leads listeners to answer blues or jazz, both of which appear in his work. However, the signature fusion associated with Santana is Latin rock, especially his melodic guitar lines over percussion-heavy grooves.