Carlos Santana ‘Is Doing Well’ After Passing Out from Heat Exhaustion During Performance
Carlos Santana passed out while on stage at Pine Knob Music Theatre on Tuesday for his Miraculous Supernatural 2022 tour
Carlos Santana is recovering after he fainted from heat exhaustion while performing in Michigan on Tuesday night.
The legendary musician, 74, was on stage at the Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston when he passed out.
A rep for Santana tells PEOPLE in a statement that he was “over-taken by heat exhaustion and dehydration” during the show, adding: “The guitar great was taken from his show at Pine Knob Music Theatre (formerly DTE Energy Music Theatre), an outdoor amphitheater in Clarkston, some 40 miles northwest of Detroit, Michigan.”
They added, “Carlos was taken to the emergency department at McLaren Clarkston for observation and is doing well.”
Santana’s manager Michael Vrionis added that a show originally scheduled for Wednesday at The Pavilion at Star Lake in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, has since been postponed.
A photo captured by Lori Pinson and shared by Roop Raj, both of FOX2 in Detroit, shows medical staffers appearing to surround Santana on the stage. Footage of Santana being carried out as concertgoers cheer for him was also posted on Twitter by Huffington Post’s Philip Lewis. In the 10-second clip, Santana waves at the crowd as he is taken off stage.
Billboard reporter Gary Graff live-tweeted updates from the concert, first writing that Santana had “just collapsed onstage” and was “being treated as I type.” The guitarist was removed from the stage in a stretcher 20 minutes later before being taken to a hospital, Graff tweeted.
Officials told Detroit’s NBC affiliate WDIV that medical workers were onstage with Santana at 10 p.m. local time. They requested for concertgoers to pray for Santana.
Though the audience was asked to leave around 10:30 p.m., many people stayed as they were in shock over the incident, former Detroit Free Press reporter Jo-Ann Barnas tweeted.
A concertgoer also told The Detroit News that Santana was performing his song “Joy,” which features Chris Stapleton, when he collapsed.
“He was walking, playing and all of a sudden went down,” a woman named Janet Brown told the outlet.
Santana was at the venue performing with fellow iconic artists Earth, Wind, and Fire for his Miraculous Supernatural 2022 tour. The series of shows is in promotion of his newest studio album, Blessings and Miracles, which was released last year.
Pine Knob did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
The health scare comes after Santana had an “unscheduled heart procedure” last December, forcing him to cancel a number of his Las Vegas shows.
Santana has canceled all December 2021 at the House of Blues Las Vegas as he recovers from an unscheduled heart procedure. We look forward to returning to perform at the House Of Blues in January 2022. pic.twitter.com/8cHcVDjFhv
— Carlos Santana (@SantanaCarlos) December 2, 2021
The Grammy winner addressed the situation directly in a video message posted to Twitter, explaining to fans that he underwent a procedure after experiencing chest issues.
“There have been rumors flying around here and there about this and that, so I’m here to just crystalize and make it clear,” Santana said in the video at the time. “Last Saturday, I had an incident where I asked my wife, Cindy, to take me to the hospital ’cause I had this thing happening in my chest.”
He continued, “So when we went there, we found out that I needed to take care of it. So I am, and I’m going to be taking time off for a little bit to make sure I replenish, and I rest and I catch up with my health so that when I play for you, I will play the way I’m used to and give you 150 percent.”
“I wouldn’t show up unless I could do that,” Santana assured his fans.
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