Anthony Mark Lindsay (born 1954) is a vocalist and longest-tenured lead singer of

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer * Sailboat designs by W. D. Schock Corp ** Santana 20 ** Santan ...

. He first joined the band 1991 and performed with Santana from 1995 to 2015, the group's period of greatest commercial success, during which it released the album ''

Supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

'' (1999) and won 11

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

s, including

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without re ...

, Album of the Year and

Best Rock Album The Grammy Award for Best Rock Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the rock music genre. Honors in sever ...

Biography

Tony Lindsay grew up in

Kingston, New York Kingston is the only Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in, and the county seat of, Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany, New York, Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grou ...

, and began performing there as an 8-year-old in an a cappella group. Lindsay studied at

Albany State University Albany State University is a Public university, public Historically Black College and University, historically black university in Albany, Georgia, United States. In 2017, Darton State College and Albany State University consolidated to become ...

, an hour up the Hudson from his hometown, and spent eight years in Albany, the state's capital. Lindsay moved to

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

, in 1980 and has lived in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

since.

Career

Upon arriving in California, Lindsay took a job at Guitar Center in downtown San Jose and sold suits at a department store. He performed with the Danny Hull Quintet at local bars and restaurants. The band evolved into Spang-a-Lang, a band with which Lindsay continues to perform. Former

Tower of Power Tower of Power is an American R&B and funk based band and horn section, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing since 1968. The band has had a number of lead vocalists, the best-known being Lenny Williams, who fronted ...

keyboard player Chester D. Thompson and drummer Ron E. Beck recruited Lindsay to audition for Carlos Santana at his San Rafael studio. Overnight, Lindsay went from playing small clubs to amphitheaters around the world. Lindsay's first album with Santana was 1992's '' Milagro'' (1992) the first Santana studio album that failed to reach Billboard's top 100. Lindsay sang on the tracks "Life Is for Living" and "Make Somebody Happy". Lindsay was Santana’s principal vocalist during the release of ''

'' (1999), one of the best selling recordings of all time, with more than 30 million copies sold worldwide, including 15 million copies in the United States. He is credited on five of the album’s tracks: "(Da Le) Yaleo", "Migra", "Primavera", "The Calling" and "Africa Bamba". Lindsay was let go from the band in 2004 but by 2007 was performing with Santana again. He performed continuously with the band through 2015. Since leaving Santana, Lindsay has maintained an active schedule of dates at Bay Area clubs, international performances and releases of recorded original material.

Style and technique

“Tony Lindsay is one of the world’s great singers,” Grammy-winning producer

Narada Michael Walden Narada Michael Walden ( ; Michael Walden; born April 23, 1952) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He acquired the nickname Narada from Sri Chinmoy. He began his career as a drummer, working primarily in the jazz ...

has been quoted as saying. “We know and we revere Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles. Tony Lindsay is on par with all three of those.”

Legacy and influence

Lindsay has collaborated and performed with artists such as

Tevin Campbell Tevin Jermod Campbell (born November 12, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He performed gospel in his local church from an early age. Following an audition for jazz musician Bobbi Humphrey in 1988, Campbell was signed to War ...

O'Jays The O'Jays are an American R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in summer 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. The O'Jays made their first chart appearance with the m ...

Al Jarreau Alwin Lopez Jarreau (March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American singer and songwriter. His 1981 album '' Breakin' Away'' spent two years on the ''Billboard'' 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and ...

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his dis ...

Johnny Gill Johnny Gill Jr. (born May 22, 1966) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B/ pop group New Edition and was also a member of the supergroup called LSG, with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. Gill has rel ...

Teddy Pendergrass Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American Soul music, soul and R&B singer and songwriter. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pendergrass lived most of his life in the Philadelphia area, and initial ...

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

and

Lou Rawls Louis Allen Rawls (December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006) was an American baritone singer. He released 61 albums, sold more than 40 million records, and had numerous charting singles, most notably the song " You'll Never Find Another Love like Min ...

. He performed a duet with

Angela Bofill Angela Tomasa Bofill (May 2, 1954 – June 13, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter and composer of Cuban- Puerto Rican origins. A New York native, she began her professional career in the mid-1970s and is most known for singles such as " T ...

and the

New York Philharmonic Orchestra The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...

at New York's Avery Fischer Hall in 1993. His voice can also be heard on Mazda, Hotwheels, Dreyer's Ice Cream and Wendy's commercials as well as on the ‘‘ Adventures of Kanga Roddy’’.

Discography

With Santana

* '' Milagro'' (1992) * ''

'' (1999) * ''

Shaman Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

'' (2002) * ''

Ceremony A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan language, Etruscan origin, via the Latin . Religious and civil ...

'' (2003) * ''Food for Thought'' (2004) * '' All That I Am'' (2005) * '' Ultimate Santana'' (2007) * "Only If You Knew What My Eyes See" (Radio Edit) (2006) * '' Multi-Dimensional Warrior'' (2008) * ''

Shape Shifter In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shapeshifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through unnatural means. The idea of shapeshifting is found in the oldest forms of totemism and shamanism, as well as the oldest existen ...

'' (2012) * '' Corazón'' (2014)

With The Magic of Santana and Alex Ligertwood

* ''Live in Spain 2016'' (2017)

Solo Recordings

* ''Tony Lindsay'' (2006) * ''Fun in the Sun'' (2010) * ''Memoirs'' (2013) * ''Set Me Free'' (2016) * ''Victory'' (2016) * ''Something Beautiful'' (2018) * ''Soul Soldier'' (2022)

References

External links

Website www.TonyLindsay.com

Tony Lindsay page on Instagram
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lindsay, Tony Living people 1954 births