The Greatest American Rock Band Bracket!
First Round, Classic Rock Division

Grateful Dead (3) vs. Santana (14)

Jam band pioneers versus the Latino guitar Jedi
The Grateful Dead:
"The Grateful Dead was... known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, country, jazz, bluegrass, blues, rock & roll, gospel, reggae, world music, and psychadelia for live performances of lengthy instrumental jams; and for its devoted fans base, known as "Deadheads." These various influences were distilled into a diverse and psychedelic whole that made the Grateful Dead the pioneering godfathers of the jam band world."
​​--Wikipedia.com

Popularity
  • Among the highest-grossing American touring acts for multiple decades
  • Second highest-grossing touring act of the 1990s
  • One top-40 single
  • Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, 2007

Influence:
  • Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1994
  • Ranked #57 in Rolling Stone's "Greatest Artists" list
  • Added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress, 2012
  • Invented the jam-band genre of rock
Santana:
"Santana were psychedelic pioneers who ushered Latin rock into the mainstream... Thanks to their appearance at Woodstock, their eponymous album was a smash hit right out of the gate, with its single "Evil Ways" making it into the Billboard Top Ten in 1969. They remained at the top of the charts until 1973... but their popularity exploded in 1999 thanks to [their album] Supernatural."
--AllMusic.com

Popularity
  • Sold 100 million worldwide
  • 14 top ten albums
  • Eight Grammy Awards
  • Three Latin Grammy Awards

Influence:
  • Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1998
  • All-time best selling album by a Latino artist

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