Today, Wednesday, October 23rd, in 1999, is the 25th anniversary of the start of Santana's "Smooth" topping Billboard's Hot 100 chart for 12 weeks.
The song, which was the first single off of Santana's comeback album, Supernatural, was co-written and sung by Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20. He says it's had its ups and downs as far as he's concerned.
"It's taken on a bunch of different lives. It was a great summer jam and then it became something that we all got a little sick of for a while and then it came back around for a minute and then everybody was like, 'Oh, I kind of remember that. I like that.' There were moments in it where I didn't know if I should say, 'You're welcome' or 'I'm sorry.' But it is definitely one of the songs that I've ever written that I'm fine if I never hear it again, but I love to play it. I don't think it's the best song I've ever written [and] I don't think it's obviously not the best song he's ever done. It shows the power of being in a moment."
"Smooth" helped propel Supernatural to over 30 million copies sold worldwide. It topped the charts in 11 countries, including the U.S., where it remained for 12 non-consecutive weeks; and been certified 15-times platinum.