Star guitarist Carlos Santana passed out on stage during a performance on Tuesday. His rep gives a health update.
Star guitarist Carlos Santana, 74, passed out Tuesday night during a performance on stage at the Pine Knob Music Theater in Clarkston, Michigan. Meanwhile, a rep for the legendary musician came forward and told People magazine that Santana “was overcome with overheating and dehydration” during the concert, adding: “Carlos was taken to the McLaren Clarkston ER for observation and it he’s fine.”
Eyewitnesses describe the incident
Billboard reporter Gary Graff tweeted live from the concert, writing that Santana “just collapsed on stage” and is “being treated as I type.” The guitarist was carried off the stage on a stretcher 20 minutes later before being taken to a hospital, Graff said.
A photo taken by Lori Pinson and shared by Roop Raj, both of Detroit-based “FOX2,” shows medical personnel surrounding Santana on stage. The Huffington Post’s Philip Lewis tweeted a video showing Santana being carried out as concertgoers cheered him on.
As the NBC broadcaster “WDIV” in Detroit announced, medical staff were on the stage at 10 p.m. local time at Santana’s. Although the audience was asked to leave the event around 10:30 p.m., many remained in shock, former Detroit Free Press reporter Jo-Ann Barnas tweeted. A concert-goer told The Detroit News that Santana was playing his song “Joy” when he collapsed. “He was walking, playing and suddenly collapsed.”
Another concert cancelled
Santana performed alongside the legendary artists of the band Earth, Wind and Fire as part of his “Miraculous Supernatural Tour”. The concert series serves to promote his latest studio album “Blessings and Miracles”, which was released last year.
The incident now also affects the next concert. Santana’s manager Michael Vrionis told People that a show originally scheduled for Wednesday at the Pavilion at Star Lake in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania has been postponed.
“Unplanned Heart Surgery” in December
Carlos Santana has been struggling with health issues for some time. Last December, he had “unplanned heart surgery” that forced him to cancel a number of his Las Vegas shows. The Grammy winner addressed the situation directly in a video message on Twitter at the time, explaining to his fans that he had to undergo surgery after problems with his chest.
“There have been rumors here and there about this and that, so I’m reaching out to clarify,” Santana said in the video at the time. “I had an incident last Saturday where I asked my wife Cindy to take me to the hospital because I had this thing in my chest.”
He continued: “When we got there we realized that I had to take care of it. So I’m going to take a little time off to regenerate, rest and restore my health so that when I play for you guys, I can play the way I’m used to and give you 150 percent.”
According to Variety, Santana performed on each of his rescheduled January dates before touring beginning in March.
