Carlos Santana was in a rock band.
Carlos Santana ( born July 20 , 1947 ) is a Mexican and American musician who first became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band , Santana , which pioneered a fusion of rock and Latin American music . The band 's sound featured his melodic , blues-based guitar lines set against Latin and African rhythms featuring percussion instruments such as timbales and congas not generally heard in rock music . Santana is an American Latin rock band formed in San Francisco , California in 1966 by Mexican-American guitarist Carlos Santana .