{"id":682,"date":"2026-05-03T21:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T21:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/former-santana-vocalist-dead-at-79\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T06:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T06:08:08","slug":"former-santana-vocalist-dead-at-79","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/former-santana-vocalist-dead-at-79\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Santana vocalist dead at 79"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former Santana vocalist Alex Ligertwood has died at the age of 79.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The Latin rock band crooner \u201cpassed peacefully in his sleep with his doggy Bobo by his side,\u201d his wife, Shawn Brogan, announced via Facebook on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlex was loved by so many,\u201d she wrote alongside photos of the musician. \u201cIf you knew him, you loved him. He touched so many with his extraordinary voice. He was all<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The hitmaker (seen here performing in 2016) \u201cpassed peacefully in his sleep with his doggy Bobo by his side,\u201d his wife, Shawn Brogan, announced via Facebook on Saturday. Photographed: Robert Randolph, Albert Lee, Kenneth Brian, Steve Ferrone and Ligertwood.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\"><\/aside>\n<p>Brogan shared that Ligertwood\u2019s \u201cfavorite thing in life was to make music, sing and to share his gift.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The matriarch reflected on Ligertwood performing his last show a few weeks ago, adding, \u201cI\u2019m grateful for that. He did it his way, on his terms, till the end.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She concluded the heartbreaking statement, \u201cI will always love you, my sweet Alex,\u201d and asked fans to keep herself and her kids in their prayers.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>\u201cAlex was loved by so many,\u201d Brogan wrote. Seen here: Ligertwood (left) and Fran Cosmo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cIf you knew him, you loved him. He touched so many with his extraordinary voice. He was all heart and soul,\u201d she continued. Seen here: Ligertwood in 2023. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Leading up to his death, Ligertwood lived in Santa Monica, Calif., and struggled with health issues, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heraldscotland.com\/news\/26075208.tributes-death-scottish-born-santana-singer-alex-ligertwood\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">per the Herald.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Scottish-born musician kick-started his love for music at a young age and reportedly started playing the guitar in the 1950s, per the outlet.<\/p>\n<p>He was the lead vocalist of Santana, founded by lead guitarist Carlos Santana in 1966, on and off between 1979 and 1994.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/second-left-performs-stage-david-126933091.jpg\" alt=\"Black and white photo of Masayoshi Takanaka, David Margen, Alex Ligertwood, and Carlos Santana performing on stage.\" \/><\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Alex was the lead vocalist of Santana on and off between 1979 and 1994. Seen here: Masayoshi Takanaka, David Margen, Ligertwood, and Carlos Santana\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>He collaborated on several albums, including 1979\u2019s \u201cMarathon\u201d and 1993\u2019s \u201cSacred Fire: Live in South America.\u201d Seen here (L-R): Carlos Santana and Ligertwood. <span class=\"credit\">Redferns<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Ligertwood hitmaker collaborated with the band on several albums, including 1979\u2019s \u201cMarathon,\u201d 1981\u2019s \u201cZebop!\u201d and the \u201cSacred Fire: Live in South America\u201d released in 1993.<\/p>\n<p>His vocals are heard in several tracks, including the 1979 hit \u201cYou Know That I Love You,\u201d the 1981 song \u201cWinning,\u201d and the 1982 song \u201cHold On.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Over the years, the hitmaker has performed with the tribute band The Magic of Santana, who also mourned him via social media.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Ligertwood is seen here performing with Carlos Santana on \u201cThe Tonight Show with Jay Leno\u201d in 1994. <span class=\"credit\">NBCU Photo Bank\/NBCUniversal via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe are so sad!\u201d a spokesperson for the band wrote via Facebook. \u201cWe just heard about Alex J Ligertwood passed away!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had a great journey together with him and we learned so much about music, passion and friendship. He was one of the best singer on this planet and we will deeply miss him. Thank you Alex, for everything!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>This story is developing \u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/alex-ligertwood-performing-live-onstage-126936478.jpg\" alt=\"Alex Ligertwood singing into a microphone onstage.\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Santana vocalist Alex Ligertwood has died at the age of 79. The Latin rock<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":683,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/126932765.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=682"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":703,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682\/revisions\/703"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}