El Rey

Jiménez is credited as composer and lyricist, and the song was recorded in 1970 or 1971 with mariachi at 2:10. Ilan Stavans, quoted by English Wikipedia, calls it the song of a macho guy convinced his rough-and-tumble life does not stop him remaining the king among his peers, and Mexico News Daily calls it an epic anthem of unapologetic pride that gave him the nickname. Aztec Jalisco says it dates from his creative maturity and expresses dignity, pride and heartbreak; we found no documented origin story or artist quote. Record World of November 2, 1974, per Wikipedia, put it number 1 in Mexico in 1974, a year after his death; we could not confirm the PDF.

Vicente Fernández's 1973 version on El Ídolo de México, at 2:34, is the best known, peaked at 40 on the Hot Latin Songs chart, and was selected in 2025 for the Library of Congress National Recording Registry. Others who covered it include Alejandro Fernández, Luis Miguel, Maná, Pedro Vargas, María Dolores Pradera, Plácido Domingo (1999), and the flamenco singer María Toledo (2021). Christina Aguilera recorded an answer song, "La Reina", in 2022. MusicBrainz links 17 recordings to the work. Cantinflas sang it in his last film, El barrendero. The upload we hold is titled Original Version, and we found no date or personnel for it.