Carlos Santana Collapses On Stage

Audience members at the Detroit-area theatre were asked to pray for the rock legend.
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Carlos Santana performs last month in Chula Vista, California. He had canceled several shows in December after a heart procedure.
Daniel Knighton via Getty Images

Rock legend Carlos Santana collapsed on stage in the middle of a concert in Michigan on Tuesday night, according to reports from the scene.

Footage showed him waving to fans as he was taken off the stage on a stretcher at the Pine Knob Music Theatre outside Detroit. 

Fans were asked to leave ― and to pray for Santana, who turns 75 later this month. 

His management later told ABC News he was suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration and was doing well but that Wednesday night’s show in Pennsylvania would be postponed. 

The San Francisco Chronicle said he collapsed during one of his newer songs, Joy, which he had moments earlier described as “mystical medicine music to heal a world infected with fear.” 

Santana, widely considered one of the greatest and most innovative guitar players of all time, had to cancel some dates last December due to what was described at the time as an “unscheduled heart procedure.” 

“I felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest,” he later explained to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, adding that he had a 94% blockage in one artery.

Santana returned to the stage in January but had to cancel more shows in February after he and others in the band developed COVID-19 infections.  

Santana shot to fame with a show-stopping performance at the iconic Woodstock festival in 1969, where he performed with his eponymous band: 

Santana’s early hits, such as Black Magic Woman, Oye Como Va and Evil Ways, are staples on classic rock radio. 

He also scored a major comeback with his 1999 chart-topping album Supernatural, which featured the track Smooth, featuring Rob Thomas on vocals. 

The single was No. 1 on the Billboard charts for 12 weeks and in the top 10 for 30 weeks: 

Santana, ranked 11th on Guitar World’s list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, has won 10 Grammy Awards for his unique fusion of rock, Latin and jazz sounds, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998

A documentary on his life is in the works.