Carlos Santana’s next studio album will be released on BMG, the iconic guitarist has announced. Titled Blessings and Miracles, it will be Santana’s first set on BMG. A debut single is expected later this month.
“I would like to thank everyone at BMG for sharing our collective commonality – vision to touch people’s hearts with energy, conviction and integrity,” Santana said in a statement. “Now more than ever, we need songs and melodies to remind us that we are significant, meaningful and that life is full of blessings and miracles.”
Santana has always been inspirational in his content. His last studio album, Africa Speaks, licensed through Concord Records, paid homage to African rhythms. Prior to that, Corazón – Live From Mexico: See It to Believe It, paired Santana with Latin and Spanish stars. The album was released on Sony Music Latin.
“We are honored to welcome the transcendent Carlos Santana and his team to BMG,” said Thomas Scherer, BMG President Repertoire & Marketing, Los Angeles and New York. “Santana’s sound is a universal language with his guitar resonating deep inside your core. Blessings and Miracles is full of joy, and we are grateful to be his partner in spreading this musical treasure to his fans and new fans everywhere around the world.”
Santana has amassed 15 top 10 albums on the Billboard 200, from Santana in 1969 to Africa Speaks in 2019. (This tally doesn’t count a 1972 live album that Carlos Santana recorded with Buddy Miles.) Four of the band’s albums have reached No. 1: Abraxas (1970), Santana III (1971), Supernatural (1999-2000) and Shaman (2002).
The band famously won eight Grammys at the 2000 ceremony, which tied Michael Jackson’s Thriller-era record for the most Grammys won in one night. The haul included album of the year for Supernatural and record of the year for “Smooth,” a collab with Rob Thomas. The band won a ninth Grammy three years later for “The Game of Love,” a collab with Michelle Branch. Carlos Santana won his first Grammy, for best rock instrumental performance, for his Blues for Salvador album (1988).
Santana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. The band has yet to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy, though the Supernatural sweep was seen by many as, in effect, a lifetime achievement award.
