José Alfredo Jiménez

Who was José Alfredo Jiménez?

José Alfredo Jiménez was a Mexican singer-songwriter in the ranchera style whose songs are considered an integral part of Mexico's musical heritage.

Jiménez had no musical training according to singer Miguel Aceves Mejía. He also did not play an instrument and did not even know the Spanish terms for "waltz" and "key". Nonetheless, he composed more than 1,000 songs. Among the most famous are "Me Equivoqué Contigo", "Ella", "Paloma Querida", "Tú y la Mentira", "Media Vuelta", "El Rey", "Sin Sangre en las Venas", "El Jinete", "Si nos Dejan", "Amanecí en tus Brazos", "Llegando a Ti", "Tu Recuerdo y Yo", El Hijo del Pueblo", "Cuando el Destino", "El Caballo Blanco", "Llegó Borracho el Borracho" and "Que te Vaya Bonito", as well as "Camino de Guanajuato", where he sang about his home state of Guanajuato.

In addition to his own recordings, many of his songs have been recorded by renowned artists from around the Spanish-speaking world, most notably by the following artists: Antonio Aguilar, Lola Beltrán, Vikki Carr, Gualberto Castro, Rocío Dúrcal, Alejandro Fernández, Pedro Fernández, Vicente Fernández, Los Relámpagos Del Norte con Cornelio Reyna y Ramón Ayala, Los Tigres del Norte, Manolo García, Little Joe Hernández & The Latinaires, Julio Iglesias, Pedro Infante, the Mexican rock group Maná, Miguel Aceves Mejía, Luis Miguel, Jorge Negrete, Sunny Ozuna & The Sunliners, María Dolores Pradera, Javier Solís, and Chavela Vargas. In addition, Joaquín Sabina paid homage to Jiménez with his song, "Por el Bulevar de los Sueños Rotos".