Supernatural is the eighteenth studio album by American rock band Santana, released on June 15, 1999, on Arista Records. After Santana found themselves without a label in the mid-1990s, founding member and guitarist Carlos Santana began talks with Arista president Clive Davis, who had originally signed the group to Columbia Records in 1969. Santana and Davis worked with A&R man Pete Ganbarg, as Santana wanted to focus on pop and radio-friendly material. The album features collaborations with several contemporary guest artists, including Rob Thomas, Eric Clapton, Everlast, Eagle-Eye Cherry, Lauryn Hill, Dave Matthews, Maná, and CeeLo Green.
Supernatural was a huge commercial success worldwide, generating renewed interest in Santana's music. It reached No. 1 in eleven countries, including the US for 12 non-consecutive weeks, where it is certified 15× platinum. The first of six singles from the album, "Smooth" featuring Matchbox Twenty singer Rob Thomas, and co-written by Thomas and Itaal Shur, was a number one success worldwide and topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 12 weeks. The next, "Maria Maria", featuring the Product G&B, was number one in the US for 10 weeks. Supernatural is Santana's best-selling album to date, the best-selling album by a Hispanic artist in music history, and one of the best-selling albums of all time, selling an estimated 30 million copies worldwide.
At the 2000 Grammy Awards, Supernatural won nine Grammy Awards, breaking the record held by Michael Jackson's Thriller for the most honored album. These included Album of the Year, making Santana the first Hispanic to win it, and Best Rock Album. "Smooth" won Song of the Year, however the award went to Rob Thomas and Itaal Shur. Santana also won three Latin Grammy Awards including Record of the Year. In 2025, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Background
After Santana's record deal with Columbia Records came to an end in 1991, the band's two subsequent albums for Polydor/Island, Milagro (1992) and Sacred Fire: Live in South America (1993), failed to attract strong sales and chart positions. Founder member and guitarist Carlos Santana felt the label were not giving the band any "traction and acceleration".
Santana, along with band manager Greg DiGiovine and attorney John Branca, approached several labels, but they struggled to find one suitable and the guitarist recalled that some considered him too old. In 1995, he was invited to participate in a documentary about Arista founder Clive Davis, who first signed the band to Columbia in 1969. Santana, with encouragement from his wife, approached Davis about the possibility of signing with Arista. Santana complied and expressed his desire to produce more radio-friendly songs with strong melodies and lyrics that appealed to a broad audience. He convinced Davis that he "wasn't stuck in the '60s; I was adaptable to these times", and cited Miles Davis and John Coltrane as artists who had successful changes in musical direction towards pop in their later careers.
"Love of My Life" is a reworking of the third movement of Brahms’ Symphony No.3 in F major, which Carlos Santana called a "glorious piece of music".
Critical reception
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic noted that "there doesn't seem to be a track that doesn't have a guest star, which brings up the primary problem with the album [...] it never develops a consistent voice that holds the album together." He added that the album is "directionless" but concluded by saying "the peak moments of Supernatural are some of Santana's best music of the '90s, which does make it a successful comeback." with 11.8 million copies sold in the United States alone. It is the best-selling album by a Hispanic artist, However, it was removed from the chart the following week for not meeting the requirement of having at least 50% of its tracks recorded in Spanish. It was ranked on Billboard<nowiki>'</nowiki>s top 200 albums of the decade as the ninth best-selling album of the 2000s.
In Australia, the album debuted at number 48 and would peak at number one on March 6, 2000. In the UK, the album peaked at number one for two weeks starting on April 1, 2000.
Singles
Copies of the first single, "Smooth", had been leaked prior to the intended June 15 radio release date and were picked up by some radio stations which began to air the song in late May. "Smooth" featured Rob Thomas on vocals, and peaked at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 for 12 weeks while it went to No. 3 in the UK and No. 4 in Australia. The next two singles were "Put Your Lights On" and "Maria Maria"; the former song was serviced to rock radio on August 24, 1999, while the latter was added to urban radio on September 14, 1999. "Maria Maria" peaked at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks, No. 6 in the UK and No. 49 in Australia while "Put Your Lights On" peaked at No. 18 on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, No. 97 in the UK, and was a minor hit in Australia at No. 32. The fourth single, "Corazón Espinado" featuring Maná, was released on May 30, 2000, and was a top-10 hit in Spain. On August 7, 2000, "Love of My Life" was serviced to US hot and modern adult contemporary radio.
Track listing
Mastered by Ted Jensen
Notes
- The total length of track 13 is actually 12:27. "The Calling" ends at 7:48. Hidden track "Day of Celebration" starts at 8:00 and has a length 4:27. The track listing and timing are the same on the 2010 "Legacy Edition". However, separate musician and production credits are listed for "Day of Celebration" in the liner notes, unlike the standard edition.
- (*) Asterisk notes co-producer.
A "Legacy Edition" of Supernatural was released on February 16, 2010, with a new Santana-supervised remastering.
Personnel
"(Da Le) Yaleo"
- Carlos Santana – guitar, vocals
- Chester D. Thompson – keyboards
- Benny Rietveld – bass
- Billy Johnson – drums
- Karl Perazzo – percussion, vocals
- Raul Rekow – congas
- Tony Lindsay – vocals
- Jose Abel Figueroa – trombone
- Mic Gillette – trombone, trumpet
- Marvin McFadden – trumpet
"Love of My Life"
- This song's main melody is derived from Brahms' symphony No. 3 in F Major Op 90 Movement #3.
- Carlos Santana – guitar
- Dave Matthews – lead vocal
- George Whitty – keyboards
- Benny Rietveld – bass
- Carter Beauford – drums
- Karl Perazzo – congas and percussion
"Maria Maria"
- Carlos Santana – guitar, background vocals
- The Product G&B – lead vocals
- Joseph Herbert – cello
- Daniel Seidenberg – viola
- Hari Balakrisnan – viola
- Jeremy Cohen – violin
"Africa Bamba"
- Carlos Santana – guitar, lead vocals, background vocals
- Chester D. Thompson – keyboards
- Benny Rietveld – bass
- Horacio Hernandez – drums
- Raul Rekow – congas
- Karl Perazzo – vamp out vocals, background vocals, percussion
- Tony Lindsay – background vocals
"Smooth"
- Carlos Santana – lead guitar
- Rob Thomas – lead vocals
- Chester D. Thompson – keyboards
- Benny Rietveld – bass
- Rodney Holmes – drums
- Karl Perazzo – percussion
- Raul Rekow – congas
- Jeff Cressman – trombone
- Jose Abel Figueroa – trombone
- Julius Melendez – trumpet
- William Ortiz – trumpet
"Do You Like the Way"
- Carlos Santana – lead guitar
- Lauryn Hill – lead and background vocals
- Cee-Lo Green – lead vocals
- Francis Dunnery, Al Anderson – rhythm guitar
- Loris Holland – keyboards
- Kobie Brown, Che Pope – programming
- Tom Barney – bass
- Lenesha Randolph – background vocals
- Danny Wolinski – saxophone and flute
- Steve Touré – trombone
- Earl Gardner – trumpet and flugelhorn
- Joseph Daley – tuba
"Put Your Lights On"
- Carlos Santana – lead guitar, congas and percussion
- Everlast – rhythm guitar and lead vocal
- Chester D. Thompson – keyboards
- Dante Ross, John Gamble – programming
- Benny Rietveld – bass
"Migra"
- Carlos Santana – guitar and sleigh bells
- Chester D. Thompson – keyboards
- K.C. Porter – programming, accordion and vocals
- Benny Rietveld – bass
- Rodney Holmes – drums
- Karl Perazzo – percussion and vocals
- Raul Rekow – congas
- Tony Lindsay – vocals
- Ramon Flores – trombone
- Mic Gillette – trombone, trumpet
- Jose Abel Figueroa – trumpet
- Marvin McFadden – trumpet
"Corazón Espinado"
- Carlos Santana – lead guitar
- Fher Olvera – lead vocals
- Sergio Vallín – rhythm guitar
- Alberto Salas – keyboards
- Chester D. Thompson – keyboards
- Juan Calleros – bass
- Alex González – drums and background vocals
- Karl Perazzo – timbales and percussion
- Raul Rekow – congas
- Gonzalo Chomat – background vocals
- Jose Quintana – vocal direction
"Wishing It Was"
- Carlos Santana – lead and rhythm guitar
- Eagle-Eye Cherry – lead vocal
- Chad & Earl – background vocals
- Chester D. Thompson – keyboards
- Benny Rietveld – bass
- Rodney Holmes – drums
- Karl Perazzo – timbales and percussion
- Raul Rekow – congas and percussion
- Humberto Hernandez – additional percussion
"El Farol"
- Carlos Santana – lead guitar
- Raul Pacheco – rhythm guitar and percussion
- K.C. Porter – keyboards and programming
- Chester D. Thompson – keyboards and programming
- Benny Rietveld – bass
- Gregg Bissonette – drums
- Karl Perazzo – timbales
- Raul Rekow – congas
"Primavera"
- Carlos Santana – lead guitar, background vocals
- J. B. Eckl – rhythm guitar
- K.C. Porter – lead vocals, keyboards, programming, background vocals
- Chester D. Thompson – keyboards
- Mike Porcaro – bass
- Jimmy Keegan – drums
- Karl Perazzo – timbales and percussion, background vocals
- Luis Conte – congas and percussion
- Fher – background vocals
- Tony Lindsay – background vocals
- Chein Garcia Alonso – Spanish translation
"The Calling"
- Eric Clapton – lead and rhythm guitar
- Carlos Santana – lead and rhythm guitar, percussions
- Chester D. Thompson – keyboards
- Mike Mani – programming
- Tony Lindsay – vocals
- Jeanie Tracy – vocals
- Andre for Screaming Lizard – Pro Tools editing
Charts
Weekly charts
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
!scope="col"|Chart (1999–2001)
!scope="col"|Peak<br>position
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Canadian Albums (RPM)
|style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Danish Albums (Hitlisten)
|style="text-align:center;"|4
|-
|-
!scope="row"|European Albums (Billboard)
|1
|-
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Greek Albums (IFPI)
| 1
|-
|-
! scope="row"|Icelandic Albums (Tónlistinn)
|1
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Oricon)
| 11
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Portuguese Albums (AFP)
|style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Spanish Albums (AFYVE)
|align="center"|1
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|}
Year-end charts
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!scope="col"|Chart (1999)
!scope="col"|Position
|-
!scope="row"|Australian Albums (ARIA)
|26
|-
!scope="row"|Canadian Albums (RPM)
|16
|-
!scope="row"|European Albums (Music & Media)
|94
|-
!scope="row"|German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
|56
|}
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!scope="col"|Chart (2000)
!scope="col"|Position
|-
!scope="row"|Australian Albums (ARIA)
|19
|-
!scope="row"|Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)
|2
|-
!scope="row"|Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)
|11
|-
!scope="row"|Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)
|4
|-
! scope="row"|Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)
|5
|-
!scope="row"|Danish Albums (Hitlisten)
|7
|-
!scope="row"|Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
|4
|-
! scope="row"| European Albums (Music & Media)
|1
|-
!scope="row"|French Albums (SNEP)
|2
|-
!scope="row"|German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
|1
|-
!scope="row"|New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)
|4
|-
! scope="row"| Singaporean English Albums (SPVA)
| 2
|-
! scope="row"|South Korean International Albums (MIAK)
| 17
|-
!scope="row"|Swedish Albums & Compilations (Sverigetopplistan)
|10
|-
!scope="row"|Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)
|1
|-
!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)
|18
|-
!scope="row"|US Billboard 200
|2
|}
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!scope="col"|Chart (2001)
!scope="col"|Position
|-
!scope="row"|French Albums (SNEP)
|97
|}