José Alfredo Jiménez

From Dolores Hidalgo to XEW

José Alfredo Jiménez Sandoval was born on January 19, 1926 in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, and died on November 23, 1973 in Mexico City, aged 47. Spanish Wikipedia gives his father's death as 1936, after which the family moved to Mexico City, where he began composing as a teenager. He worked as a waiter at La Sirena restaurant, played goalkeeper for the Oviedo and Marte football clubs alongside Antonio Carbajal, and briefly sang with Los Rebeldes. Spanish Wikipedia says the singer Andrés Huesca heard his songs at La Sirena, including "Yo", and broadcast it in 1948 on XEX and then XEW. Miguel Aceves Mejía claims to have discovered him and to have advised an a cappella audition at XEW's Amanecer Ranchero, with Mariachi Vargas and Rubén Fuentes; he recorded "Ella", "Yo", "Serenata huasteca" and "Tu recuerdo y yo".

"Paloma Querida" was written for Paloma Gálvez, who sought out Jorge Negrete, and Negrete recorded an album of his songs. English Wikipedia counts more than 1,000 songs and Spanish Wikipedia almost 300. He appeared in films from Los huéspedes de La Marquesa (1951) through Juana Gallo (1961), Escuela para solteras (1965) and La chamuscada (1971); his last film, La loca de los milagros, came out in 1975. His albums include Ni pobres ni ricos (1953), Caminos de Guanajuato (1955), La feria de San Marcos (1958), El hombre del alazán (1959), Me cansé de rogarle (1966), El caudillo (1968), El cantinero (1971), El rey (1971) and Gracias (1972), many of them tied to film soundtracks. His last television appearance in 1973 introduced "Gracias".

He is buried at the Panteón Municipal in Dolores Hidalgo, where a serenade on the anniversary of his death grew into the Festival Internacional José Alfredo Jiménez, and his birthplace is a museum, the Casa Museo José Alfredo Jiménez, opened in 2008 by his daughter Paloma. A 1988 biopic, Pero sigo siendo el rey, starred Leonardo Daniel. Joaquín Sabina's "Por el Bulevar de los Sueños Rotos" is a homage, and the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame inducted "El Rey" in 2007.