What Artist Links Michael Jackson, Chester Bennington, Seal, and Jennifer Lopez?

Carlos Santana got introduced to the world when his band played a legendary set in 1969 at Woodstock before they had even released their first album!   "Evil Ways" and "Soul Sacrifice" brought Santana international success.   Yet, it wasn't until 1999 when Carlos Santana achieved his greatest commercial success with the multi-Grammy winning CD, Supernatural.    Rolling Stone recently named him #15 on their all-time greatest guitar slingers.

Since 1999, he has played with everyone from Lauryn Hill, Kirk Hammett of Metallica, Wyclef Jean, Mary J Blige, Nickelback, Michelle Branch, Eric Clapton, and on and on.    Here are four special  guest appearances from the past 13 years.

"WHATEVER HAPPENS"   MICHAEL JACKSON 

"RIDERS ON THE STORM"  SANTANA with CHESTER BENNINGTON (Linkin Park), RAY MANZAREK (The Doors)

"YOU ARE MY KIND"      SEAL

"THIS BOY'S FIRE"   JENNIFER LOPEZ

Elton John And An HBO Documentary: Carlos Santana and Buddy Guy, Elton John, and The Pointer Sisters

"WHERE THE BLUES BEGINS"  BUDDY GUY with CARLOS SANTANA

Buddy Guy started off in Muddy Waters band but went on to become an Icon, the King of Chicago Blues.    Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn all credit Buddy as a key influence.   Rolling Stones places him among the Top 20 all-time guitarists and on his latest CD, he teams up with one of my favorite guitarists, Carlos Santana.   Santana was the first instrumentalist that I got into, his guitar carries his message of peace, love, and unity and listening to a Santana solo takes you to another place in your mind.   Brilliant pairing of two legends, enjoy!

"THE LAST SONG"   ELTON JOHN

Growing up a small town in Wisconsin, I grew up unfamiliar with gay people, AIDS, it was foreign and scary to a straight guy.   Then I moved to Minneapolis and ran into a new environment:  people of all races, attitudes, religions, musical choices, and sexual preferences.  I began to accept the differences and really grew up a lot during those Minneapolis years.   During this time, Elton John released "The Last Song" - the saddest song ever about a father coming to grips with his son dying of AIDS.   Then HBO released a documentary styled movie called "And The Band Played On" - it humanized the disease that so many (including myself) didn't understand.   It showed innocent children getting the disease, doctors puzzled over the new outbreak, and the frustration over the hopeless of the government doing nothing to help this plague.   The film educated and moved me.  The film ends with Elton John's song and a montage of celebrities lost to AIDS, then included stats and data about the future.   Epic film for the time. 

"DARE ME"    THE POINTER SISTERS

This is classic 80's R&B!   The sister harmony of the Pointer Sisters with an assertive jam that I owned on a 45 record at the time!   "Dare Me" mixes in a boxing theme and some awesome lyrics, " I say you're either a lover or you're a liar.  So don't you push too hard, you're playing with fire.    Baby MAKE YOUR MOVE, step across the line, touch me one more time, come on Dare Me!"    Olympic boxer, Mark Breland, is making the cameo in the video.