Carlos Santana reveals Kirk Hammett will guest on his new album, Blessings and Miracles

Kirk Hammett will guest on new Carlos Santana record
(Image credit: Gonzales Photo/Lasse Lagoni/PYMCA-Avalon/Universal Images Group / ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP/Getty Images)

The COVID-19 shutdown has left artists unable to tour for a year, but if there’s any look-on-the-bright-side outcome, it’s that many of them have had plenty of time on their hands to write and record.

One of those artists is electric guitar legend Carlos Santana, who recently told ABC Audio that he has not one, not two, but three new albums in the works, including one, Blessings and Miracles, that he says is “90-percent completed” and will feature a guest spot from Metallica’s Kirk Hammett. 

What’s more, Santana said, "He's tearing it up."

Hammett, it’s worth noting, also appeared on the 2020's album Give the Drummer Some from Santana’s wife, Cindy Blackman Santana.

Additional guest musicians on Blessings and Miracles, Santana hinted, may include Steve Winwood and Living Colour frontman Corey Glover.

As for the effect the pandemic has had on his creativity, Santana said, "I just feel really, really grateful. I'm 73 and…because of this time that I'm allowed to just replenish and nourish…[a]ll the notes are like really, really juicy and powerful."

Richard Bienstock

Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.