The American music legend paid a heavy price for saying: "Women are women and men are men"

Carlos Santana's comments offended the transgender community, who forced him to issue an apology and the artist paid for his thoughtless statements.

Recently, legendary musician Carlos Santana became the focus of criticism of the online community after he made a speech that was said to be discriminatory against the LGBT community. Specifically, during a concert in New Jersey, Carlos Santana shared that: "Women are women, men are men."

After this sharing, Carlos Santana received a series of criticisms from the audience, especially those belonging to the LGBT community. Most argue that Carlos Santana is a great artist, but his statements show antiquation, backwardness and discrimination against LGBT people.

A video recording of a concert in New Jersey shows the "Oye Como Va" musician sharing his spontaneous thoughts about the transgender community. Carlos Santana said, "When God created you and me, before we come out of the womb, you know who you are and what you are. Later on, as you get older, you see things and you start believing you can be something that sounds cool, but that's not true."

Santana then went on to repeat harmful language regarding gender identity: "Women are women and men are men, that's all." Guitar legend Carlos Santana's statement later drew harsh criticism from fans, especially the transgender community.

In response to the harsh reaction from the audience, the musician later apologized to the audience, saying, "I apologize for my insensitive statements. I realized my words hurt others. But I really didn't mean to offend you, it was just an incident. I sincerely apologize to you who were hurt by me."

Carlos Santana is a guitarist who mixes rock with Latin American music and fronted Santana. He started playing guitar when he was eight and turned down an opportunity to attend Humbolt State University to pursue a career in music.

At the age of 19, the Santana Blues Band was born and rose rapidly. Indeed, just a month after their formation, they opened for The Who, and 3 years later, audiences saw them on the Woodstock 1969 stage after releasing their debut album Santana with the now shortened band name. However, Santana's band became embroiled in conflicts related to music, the musicians' drug use, and financial problems.

Considered one of the best guitar players of all time, Carlos Santana has won 10 Grammy Awards and 3 Latin Grammy Awards. His long list of accolades includes the Billboard Centenary Award (1996), the Billboard Latin Music Awards Lifetime Achievement Award (2009), the Kennedy Center Honor Award (2013) and more. and in 1998, Carlos Santana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1998).

Music magazine Rolling Stone ranked Carlos Santana at number 15 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists in 2003 (number 20 in 2012). Vietnamese audiences still remember the song Black Magic Woman with his ecstatic performance in the 1970s and 1980s.

In the field of music, Carlos Santana has collaborated with some of the greatest music artists in history such as "King of Pop" Michael Jackson, Shakira, Mana, Juanes, Fabulous Cadillacs, Gloria Estefan...

For Carlos Santana, music was his life. "Music is not just about notes, chords, amplifiers and instruments. Music is the sound of life," Santana declared in October 2021.

On the occasion of Carlos Santana's birthday, famed "Rock Routes" announcer Diego Pardave highlighted that the guitar legend's career spanning more than 40 years has "broken the boundaries of Latin rock".

Santana is not only a musician but also a social activist across the globe. In 1998, the rocker and his family founded the Milagro (Miracle) Foundation dedicated to helping vulnerable and underserved children in the fields of art, education and health.