José Alfredo Jiménez (Born: January 19, 1926 in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato Died: November 23, 1973 in Mexico City, Mexico) 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, he did not play an instrument and did not even know the Spanish terms for "waltz" and "key". Nonetheless, he composed more than 1000 songs.
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.