Latin Rock

Latin Rock includes a variety of bands and styles, especially those associated with the diverse and innovative music scene of the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1960s and 1970s. The definitive Latin rock group was Santana, whose combination of bluesy electric guitar, Latin percussion and organ caught the imagination of national and international audiences, beginning with their break-out performance at the 1969 Woodstock festival. Santana had hits both with original compositions and with rock-flavored covers of Latin dance numbers, including Oye Como Va, a cha cha cha first recorded by Tito Puente in 1962.

The San Francisco group Malo (which included Carlos Santana’s brother, Jorge) reached Number 18 on the Billboard charts with their 1972 hit, Suavecito, a ballad with a bolero/cha cha cha rhythm. On the other side of the Bay in Oakland, brothers Pete and Coke Escovedo, admirers of Tito Puente, founded the band Azteca, which brought together Latin and jazz musicians. Azteca inspired Chicano youth with both its music and its Aztec-themed album covers.

Latin Rock continues to thrive today with bands such as Los Lonely Boys, whose 2004 self-titled album went multi-platinum. Carlos Santana, further cementing himself as the god of the genre, won nine Grammys -- including Album of the Year -- and three Latin Grammys for his 1999 15x platinum album, Supernatural. He continues to tour and record with success.