London, Dec 18: Since his monumental comeback two years ago, veteran rocker Carlos Santana has continued his musical collaborations with distinguished artists such as Placido Domingo and Macy Gray. His recent concert in London was sold out, and never tired of spreading his spiritual messages, Santana himself admits that surviving three decades of popular music have not changed the hippy that Woodstock produced in 1969. His latest musical collaboration , 'The Game of Love' has brought yet another success to Carlos Santana. The first single to be released from his latest album "Shaman", "The Game of Love" sees Santana in a musical duet with singer Michelle Branch. It's a follow-up of creative partnerships that worked miracles for Santana's comeback album 'Supernatural', earning him nine grammies. At his recent concert at London's Astoria (December 16) the veteran rocker managed to heat up the audience with a mixture of old classics and new songs. Never tired to spread his spiritual ideas, Santana sees his music as more than just entertainment: "I like turning people on to that inner medicine - faith is the substance of things not seen - it's a very real element, you don't see it, it's there so this is the best part of being on the road to me, it's like turning people on, do something that they have access to if they just stop and go inside and get it." Surviving over three decades of popular music have not changed his attitude to success. In his heart, he says he's still the hippy he was when he rocked the stages of Woodstock in 1969.


"I haven't changed, you're right I'm a hippy from the 60s, I saw a lot of hippies, like sold out to Coca Cola and all kinds of things but I'm still the same guy, I haven't sold out I still believe that we as humans we will get to the other side and we shall have peace on earth."


So perhaps it's his dedication to his beliefs that brought Santana to this stage of his successful career.


"To me success is knowing that people need something from you whether you make bread or wine, so the key to success is finding something that people need and obviously a lot of people need the sounds of Santana."

Bureau Report