超自然 (1999)

Supernatural is the eighteenth studio album by the American rock band Santana, released on June 15, 1999, on Arista Records. After Santana found itself 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 Latino 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 and Best Rock Album. "Smooth" won Song of the Year for Thomas and 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. Founding member and guitarist Carlos Santana felt the label was not giving the band any "traction and acceleration". In October 1996, he met Island founder Chris Blackwell in New York City, where he asked for his release. Santana told Blackwell that he had "a masterpiece" album in him, but felt Island was not the right label for such plans. Blackwell subsequently travelled to Santana's home in Sausalito, California, in an attempt to change the guitarist's mind, but Santana persisted and he was released from the label without paying compensation for the early termination.

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. Eventually Santana, DiGiovine and Branca scored interest from three labels: Arista, EMI, and Tommy Boy; the three were most interested in EMI, however, as it was willing to pay as much as four times as much money than the others. In early 1997, Santana entered the studio to start on Supernatural while the contract was being finalized, but he soon had second thoughts as he recognised Davis' ability to generate hit records. After the contract was scrapped in May 1997, Santana reconnected with Davis and later said he "Didn't rub it in my face. He said the company was still interested." However, Davis needed to see if the band was still a commercially viable attraction, so Santana invited him to attend the band's upcoming concert at Radio City Music Hall in July, which featured a new line-up of the group. Davis was impressed and offered to sign the band.