Carlos Santana Rockin’ To “Smooth” – LIVE

“Smooth” was written by Rob Thomas and Itaal Shur. This was said to be an ode to Thomas’ Puerto Rican wife, Marisol Maldonado. It was released on June 29, 1999 as a part of Carlos Santana’s album “Supernatural.” It was such a huge hit that it bagged three Grammy awards namely Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, Song of the Year and Record of the Year. It topped Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in 1999 and stayed in that spot for 12 weeks!

While writing the track, Thomas thought of having someone else perform the vocals but when Santana heard the song, he knew he wanted Thomas to record it. In an interview with Itaal Shur, he said: “My manager at the time told me that Pete Ganbarg, who was working at the time at Arista, he was looking for music for the new Santana record. At the time, I had my own band and was performing a lot around the city. I jumped at it because I grew up with an older brother who hipped me up to Classic Rock and I always loved Santana.”