Alex Ligertwood, the Scottish musician best known for his lengthy stint as Santana’s vocalist, has died at the age of 79.
Ligertwood’s wife and agent, Shawn Brogan, confirmed his death in a statement shared on social media over the weekend. She said Ligertwood died “peacefully in his sleep with his doggy Bobo by his side” at his home in Santa Monica. No cause of death was given.
“Alex was loved by so many. If you knew him, you loved him,” Brogan said. “He touched so many with his extraordinary voice. He was all heart and soul. His favorite thing in life was to make music, sing and to share his gift with us. He performed his last show just two weeks ago. I’m grateful for that. He did it his way, on his terms, till the end. I will always love you, my sweet Alex. Rest in peace. Soar and sing with the angels, my love.”
Reps for Carlos Santana did not immediately return a request for comment.
Ligertwood joined Santana in 1979 and worked with the legendary guitarist and his band until 1994. While Santana was arguably past their commercial peak at that point, Ligertwood’s tenure still included several modest chart hits, many tours, and famous performances like Live Aid in 1985. He sang on tracks tracks like “You Know That I Love You”, “Winning,” “Hold On,” and “Say It Again,” and co-wrote songs like “Somewhere in Heaven,” “Brightest Star,” and “Make Somebody Happy.”
In his memoir, Santana wrote about first seeing Ligertwood sing with David Sancious’ band in the mid-Seventies. He wrote that Ligertwood “had a great R&B voice, even though you could hardly understand him when he’d speak to you” because of his thick Scottish accent.
“Alex fit right in,” Santana wrote of Ligertwood after he joined the band. “He became the voice of Santana on many of our albums and on most of our tours in the ‘80s and into the ‘90s. He can make you feel God in his singing — as he did when he sang ‘Somewhere in Heaven’ on the Milagro album in ’92. You believe him.”
Born in Glasgow in 1946, Ligertwood grew up singing in choirs and playing piano at home. He eventually picked up the guitar and started playing in skiffle bands around Glasgow during the Fifties. One of his breakthrough gigs was when he was tapped to sing for the Senate, a Scottish soul cover band that toured around Europe during the late Sixties.
Ligertwood spent the Seventies as something of a rock & roll journeyman. He sang with the Jeff Beck Group, as well as Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express and the Average White Band. He also occasionally worked as a session vocalist, popping up on albums by Carly Simon, Ben E. King, and Solomon Burke.
Following his stint with Santana, Ligertwood continued to tour and record with a variety of acts. He reunited with Auger and Oblivion Express for a stretch and, in 2019, released a solo album, Outside the Box.
