Gregg Rolie

Listen to "Gregg Rolie Two Time RnR Hall Of Fame Inductee" on Spreaker. Gregg Rolie (Legendary Keyboardist, Vocalist, Songwriter) takes his rightful place this April 7th at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction New York City as a two-time member of the Hall. He is the only artist being inducted for a second time this year. He was first inducted as a founding member of Santana; and, now for this year’s class ... Journey, for whom he was the original lead singer. He has been a featured member of Ringo Starr’s All Starr band for the last five years. In between all of that, he has had several bands and a longtime solo career. A year after graduating from high school in 1965, Rolie joined Carlos Santana and others to form the Santana Blues Band, which was later shortened simply to Santana. As a founding member of Santana, Rolie was part of the band's first wave of success, including an appearance at the Woodstock Music and Art Festival in 1969 and central roles in several hit albums. He is perhaps best known for being their original lead vocalist, with his voice driving such classic Santana hits as Black Magic Woman (US #4), Oye Como Va, No One To Depend On and Evil Ways. He also became well known for his unique sound and groundbreaking work on the Hammond B3 organ, with classic solos on many of the aforementioned hits. In 1973 Rolie joined a new band with ex-Santana guitarist Neal Schon; this became Journey. Starring in a lineup that featured Schon, Aynsley Dunbar, George Tickner, and Ross Valory, he was keyboardist for the band's first six albums. On Journey and Look into the Future, he was lead vocalist, and on Next he shared those duties with guitarist Neal Schon. After Steve Perry joined the band in 1977, Rolie sang co-lead vocals on several songs on the albums Infinity, Evolution, and Departure. After leaving Journey in 1980, Gregg has released several solo albums, including the eponymous Gregg Rolie in 1985. This album featured the song "I Wanna Go Back," which later became a hit for Eddie Money, and included contributions from Carlos Santana, Peter Wolf, Neal Schon, and Craig Chaquico. A second solo effort, Gringo, was released in 1987.