Injury forces rock legend from return to Las Vegas Strip

Carlos Santana’s injured digit is keeping him from the House of Blues stage this month.

Santana has broken his left pinkie after a fall at his vacation home in Hawaii, according to his manager, Michael Vrionis of Universal Tone Management. Santana was to return Jan. 22-Feb. 2. Those dates are now canceled. The 77-year-old rock legend returns May 16.

“I am sorry to say that Carlos was out taking a walk at his vacation home in Kauai. He took a hard fall, and he broke his little finger on his left hand,” Vrionis said in a statement. “He had to have pins inserted in the finger. Unfortunately, he won’t be able to play guitar for approximately six weeks. Doctors do say that he will recuperate fully.”

Vrionis said the Woodstock superstar is “anxious to be back on stage soon” at the Mandalay Bay music hall, where he has headlined since 2012.

“He just needs to heal,” Vrionis said. “Santana profoundly regrets these postponements of his upcoming performances, but accidents happen, and his health is our number one concern. He is looking forward to seeing all of his fans very soon.”

Physical maladies also took Santana out of a series of shows in September and October, after undergoing what his wife, Cindy Blackman Santana, said was a “corrective procedure” in his back. H returned to the stage in late-October through November, seated for about half of the show.

Blackman Santana has since performed with The Band 3 at Allegiant Stadium, during halftime of the Raiders-Jaguars game last month. Guitar great Orianthi and acclaimed bassist Rhonda Smith joined that performance, a side project that plans an album release this year but is unrelated to the Santana band.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.