Carlos Santana’s 3 Children: All About Salvador, Stella and Angelica

Carlos Santana’s son and daughters inherited his musical talent

Carlos Santana passed his musical talent on to his three children: Salvador, Stella and Angelica Santana.

The rock legend — whose life was chronicled in the 2023 documentary Carlos — is known for his skills on the guitar and as the founding member of Santana, but his kids have become musicians and artists in their own right.

Santana met his first wife, Deborah King, in 1972, and they married the next year, per Santana’s website. After nearly a decade of marriage, the couple welcomed their son Salvador and daughters Stella and Angelica within the span of seven years.

In 2007, Santana told PEOPLE that because he was raised learning how to play music from his father, he wanted to keep that tradition alive in his own family. “They’re all musical. In our house, learning to play the piano is required,” he said.

In addition to practicing music as children, the three siblings went on tour with their father, Stella told VIBE in 2015.

While Santana encouraged them to pursue music, he says he was not overly heavy-handed in his desire to have them develop their talents.

“I told them it was in them and to stop fighting it. But it took them a while to accept that,” he told The Guardian in 2014. “I said, ‘I’m not going to push you like my father pushed me but the sooner you get to it, the faster you will create diamonds.’ ”

Because of their father’s encouragement, all three children inherited their father’s creativity. Salvador and Stella directly emulated their father, becoming career singers and musicians, while Angelica is an artist and poet — though she does sing and play piano as well.

Santana and Deborah divorced in 2007, and Santana married his second wife, jazz and rock drummer Cindy Blackman, in 2011. Their Maui, Hawaii, ceremony took place on a rainy December day, but it was made all the more special with a suggestion from Salvador, who thought the couple should wash their hands in a bowl of rainwater. It was Blackman’s “favorite part” of the ceremony, she told PEOPLE in 2011.

Here’s everything to know about Carlos Santana’s children: Salvador, Stella and Angelica.

Salvador and Stella followed in his career footsteps

Both Salvador and Stella are successful musicians in their own right, following in their father’s musical footsteps.

Salvador began his pursuit of music at three years old, sitting on his father’s lap playing the drums, he told Fox News in 2012. He was then introduced to the guitar by his father, followed by the piano at six years old.

He attended college at the California Institute of the Arts in Southern California and then began his career in 2008 with an album with his Salvador Santana Band, followed by multiple solo singles and albums — the first being Keyboard City in 2010. He’s performed at the Bonnaroo Music Festival, South by Southwest and the New Orleans Jazz Festival, per Jammerzine, and has won a Grammy alongside his father.

While working on his solo career, he told the Marin Independent Journal in 2011 that he wanted to separate himself from his famous father.

“I’m trying to show that I went to school, studied, and I’m an established musician with the technique to back up the talent I have to offer,” he told the outlet. “I’m trying to show people that I know what I’m doing, that I’m not just a karaoke, generic artist with a special last name.”

Santana’s oldest daughter, Stella, also followed him into the music industry — though she started on a different path at first. Like her siblings, she was around music as a child, but she set herself on an academic path first, graduating from Pepperdine University with a degree in international and intercultural communication in 2007, according to her LinkedIn and VIBE.

After singing a cappella at a school workshop, VIBE reported in 2015, Stella decided to pursue a career in music. That year, she released her first singles in her father's signature R&B style, followed by her first full-length album, Selfish, in 2016.

Since then, she has released two EPs in 2021, Distant and Distant II — which include songs that she had been working on since 2016, Stella wrote on her Instagram — followed by two singles in May and June 2024.

Following her legendary father, Stella told The Knockturnal in 2023 that her parents had given her a few pieces of advice about the music industry. “My parents have always instilled into me my intuition. Pay attention who you align yourself with and who is speaking on your behalf,” she told the outlet.

Angelica is a poet and artist

Angelica is a poet, archivist and film producer, according to her mom Deborah’s website.

Though she has not pursued music as her career, she did inherit Santana’s musical talents.

While she has posted videos of herself singing and playing the piano on her Instagram, in recent years she has focused more on art and poetry. She creates graphic art designs for greeting cards and stationery sets, and has created journals about self-care and body image, which she sells on her website under the name Art by Jelli.

In July 2024, she published her poetry in a limited release collection called Give Them Teeth. In June, Deborah shared a photo of Angelica’s poem “Stone Fruit” on Instagram.

“My youngest, Angelica, wrote this poem. She is a remarkable poet, novelist and creative,” the proud mom wrote in the caption. “She is a healer who is fiercely working on healing herself (and she wants that comfort for everyone). This poem reminds me of warm summer afternoons and tight hugs.”

In 2008, Angelica appeared alongside her father in the documentary Road to Ingwavuma. In it, Angelica, Salvador and Carlos — alongside other celebrities — visit post-apartheid South Africa to help end poverty and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Known for his philanthropy and activism — which Angelica has inherited, per her Instagram — Santana was honored at the 2015 Billboard Latin Music Awards and given the Spirit of Hope Award for his charitable Milagro Foundation.

Santana dedicated the award to Angelica and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta, according to CNN.

They’ve all collaborated on music together

All of Santana’s children have collaborated with him — and each other — on music.

Salvador started his career before he even graduated high school, collaborating with Santana on a song for his 1999 album Supernatural, according to the Marin Independent Journal. Together, they wrote “El Farol” (or “The Light”), dedicated to Santana’s father, a mariachi violinist.

The album swept the Grammy Awards in 2000, with Santana winning eight trophies, including best pop instrumental for “El Faro.”

In 2021, Salvador helped his father with another album, this time alongside his sister, Stella. The LP, Blessings and Miracles, features a track from each of the two siblings.

Stella worked alongside DJ Avi Snow and the group MVCA on the song “Breathing Underwater” with her father, and Salvador created the song “Rumbalero” with Asdru Sierra from the band Ozomatli and his father.

Salvador posted a throwback photo of himself, his dad and Stella, as well as a present-day snap of the three, on Instagram to promote the album.

“Wow! I can’t even begin to describe how honored and grateful I am to be featured on an album with not just my dad, but also my sister! And to finally share some new music with the world!” he captioned the 2021 post. “ I can’t wait for everyone to hear the joy and love that went into crafting this record.”

Salvador worked with his father again in July 2023 with the single “Energía.” Salvador and Santana collaborated with Salvador’s cousin Jose Santana on the track, with Santana on the guitar, Salvador working on writing the lyrics and production and Jose contributing lyrics and a hip-hop sound, according to Santana’s website.

Though the siblings’ collaborations with their father have had commercial success, they’ve created music just for fun too.

In 2017, Angelica posted a video on Instagram of her singing alongside the piano while Salvador played. “This past weekend I got help making this song from @salvadorsantanamusic and also got to help @stellibelli write some lyrics and it was really nice to get to share those moments of creativity with family,” she wrote in the caption.

Stella and Salvador made him a grandfather

Stella and Salvador are both married and have made Santana a two-time grandfather with each of their children.

Salvador met his wife, Megan — who is a costume designer and wardrobe manager — in college at the California Institute of the Arts. The two married in 2010 with a ceremony in Hawaii that was then followed by a family celebration in Orange County, Calif., a few months later, per the Marin Independent Journal.

The couple welcomed their son, Steven River Santana, in 2018, per Salvador’s Instagram. In honor of National Son Day in 2021, Salvador shared a heartfelt message to his son on Instagram.

“You are my 'why'. Why I get up early everyday, why I stay up late in the studio, why I go on the road to share my music and art with the world, why I go out and help people in need and speak out for those who don’t have a voice or a platform, why I do what I do because everything I do is for you,” Salvador wrote in the caption.

Almost every year since his son’s birth, Salvador posts a photo of himself with Stevie and his father on Father’s Day. In June 2019, he shared a series of photos with his son and Santana on Instagram with the caption “Happy Father’s Day! I feel supremely grateful and blessed each and every day.”

Stella also made Santana a grandfather in 2021, when she and her husband welcomed their first child together — son, Koa.

While promoting the release of a new single in May 2023, she posted a slideshow of photos on her Instagram, starting with a selfie of her and son. “I made a lot of things in 2020. One of them was an entire human child,” Stella captioned the post.

He gave his children advice about life and music

Over the years, Santana has given his children advice and life lessons — about both the music industry and life.

Salvador spoke to the Daily Sundial in 2013 about one piece of advice from his father and mother that has stuck with him. “No matter what you do in life, give your 100 percent, give it everything you got, do it with love, do it with positivity, and do it with passion,” he told the outlet. “Whatever you choose to do, add those ingredients and that will resonate with people.”

In a 2023 interview with BET, Stella told the outlet that her parents taught her and her siblings to “do things from the heart” from a young age.

“As you get older, you realize what it means. When you start from that space, it affects who you work with and how you show up with that person. It really sets the tone for the journey that you’re going on – in any collaboration or in any sort of creation,” Stella said. “So I feel like that is the core of everything and that’s always where it’s coming from.”

Stella also told VIBE in 2015 that her parents made her and her siblings who they are. “We’re very grounded, not too crazy or reckless. We’re very respectful of other people and we love to give back,” she said.

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