Award-winning guitarist Carlos Santana has said he wants to become a church minister when he retires from music.

Santana, 61, told Rolling Stone magazine he would eventually like to start a church in Maui, Hawaii.

He also described how his faith has helped him get through the difficult times in his life.

"I'm going to stop playing when I'm 67 and work on what I really want to do, which is to be a minister, like Little Richard," he said.

The musician is currently in the middle of his Live Your Light tour which ends on 12 October in Concord, California.

He is also about to release of a two-disc album entitled Multi-Dimensional Warrior.

It will be his 38th album and is made up of little-known songs from his previous releases.

But despite his continued musical success, Santana said he wanted to move on and explore his other skills.

"I'm not sick of what I do, but I find that God gave me the gift of communication even without my guitar and with the ability to get people unstuck with certain sections of the Bible having to do with guilt, shame, judgment and fear," he said.

Santana also spoke about the pain of his recent divorce from his wife of 34 years and how his faith helped him get through it - and overcome thoughts of suicide.

"The thing I learned is, you have to go through the darkest night of the soul to get to the brightest light of the day, and that's what I did last year," he added.

The Latin guitarist is one of the world's most respected musicians, winning multiple Grammys for his work, nine of which were awarded in 1999.

Aside from music, Santana is already involved in a wide range of ventures.

He has set up a charity to help disadvantaged young people. He has his own line of women's shoes, another of sparkling white wine and he is also a partner in a chain of Mexican restaurants.

(BBC)

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