Chris Stapleton joins forces with iconic guitarist Carlos Santana for a groovy new track, “Joy.”
Written and recorded as a part of Santana’s upcoming album, Blessings and Miracles, out Friday (Oct. 15), “Joy” finds the pair trying to free themselves from the heaviness of the modern world. “Rattling the chains untangled / I see me from a different angle / Now I have joy,” Stapleton proclaims.
“I was very intrigued to work with Chris,” Santana says in a statement. “We talked on the phone about the COVID situation and how there’s so much fear in the world, and I said, ‘We need to create music as a healing force. We must bring hope and courage and disinfect twisted minds infected with darkness.’ That gave him the ammunition to write such incredible words.
“Somewhere I said ‘flying on the wings of angels,’ so it’s a collaboration,” Santana adds. “And what an incredible song it is.”
Stapleton is the only country artist featured on Blessings and Miracles, which also boasts collaborations with Diane Warren, Steve Winwood and Rob Thomas.
In September, Stapleton recorded his own version of Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” for an expansive tribute record called The Metallica Blacklist, which also features contributions from Mickey Guyton, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Jon Pardi and Darius Rucker. On a much different musical note, Stapleton will be featured on a new track called “Glow” on Kelly Clarkson‘s upcoming holiday album, When Christmas Comes Around, which is also due out on Friday.
Non-Country Artists Who Unexpectedly “Went Country”: