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Rock stars often live wild lives while they make chart-topping music. And in the case of classic rock icon Carlos Santana, that’s certainly the case. Younger music fans might remember Santana from the inescapable hit “Smooth” his self-titled band released with Matchbox 20 frontman Rob Thomas in 1999. But his history goes deeper than that, including a hallucinatory performance at Woodstock in 1969.

Santana band members David Brown (L) and Carlos Santana (R) performing onstage at Woodstock
(L-R) David Brown and Carlos Santana, of the group Santana, perform onstage during the Woodstock music festival | Victor Englebert/Getty Images

Carlos Santana has been making music for nearly 50 years

Santana’s career launched in the late 1960s with the guitarist founding the band originally known as the Carlos Santana Blues Band. That name was eventually shortened to simply “Santana,” and the band released its first studio album in 1969, to immediate success. In fact, one of Santana’s most iconic hits, “Evil Ways,” is derived from its debut album.

Over the years, Santana’s music would continue to cement his legacy. Over the next 30 years, Santana himself would release several solo albums amidst his band’s success. But 1999’s Supernatural – led by “Smooth” – revitalized his career. The album went Diamond, selling more than 10 million copies in the United States, and became the biggest success of his career.

Carlos Santana described his hallucination at Woodstock

Like so many other music stars of the time, Santana also experimented with drugs during his career. The musical icon has been very open in discussing his experiences, particularly in those early years.

And in a 2019 television appearance, Santana shared what it was like to perform at Woodstock in 1969 while under the influence of mescaline. How did he get through that show?

“What I thought is what my mom taught me, immediately hold on to God and trust that God – who makes everything all right already – would guide you through all this energy,” Santana told CBS This Morning.

“Woodstock is about energy. All those people is about energy. And more important than the mescaline or Jerry Garcia or Woodstock or the music is how those people were able to co-exist with unity and harmony like we humans did it in the year 2000.”

Carlos Santana explained he and Jerry Garcia took ‘inner baths’

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As Santana explains it, he was called to the stage earlier than expected. Prior to the show, he and friend Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead often experimented with drugs. And in his CBS This Morning interview, Santana revealed why musicians often did so before shows.

“My friend, Jerry Garcia, we used to do what we call therapeutic ‘inner baths,’ peeling layers of illusions. Because humans pick up all kinds of personas that are not really you. And if you don’t be careful, this persona can throw you into a ‘misery ditch.’ So for me, it’s always important to be a person rather than a persona.”

Santana’s ill-timed trip might have made his Woodstock performance a bit of a challenging. But the singer has a remarkably positive outlook on that experience and others like it. If there’s one thing Santana can say without question, it’s that he seized the opportunity to expand his mind.

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