José Alfredo Jiménez

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José Alfredo Jiménez' grave has become a tourist attraction

José Alfredo Jiménez (born January 9, 1926 in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, died November 23, 1973 in Mexico City, Mexico) was a Mexican singer-songwriter in the ranchera style.

His songs are considered part of Mexican musical heritage, at the level, for instance, of Woody Guthrie for American music.

He had no musical training—according to the singer Miguel Aceves Mejía, Jiménez didn't play an instrument and didn't even know the Spanish terms for "waltz" and "key". Nonetheless he composed more than 200 songs. Among the most famous are "Ella", "Media Vuelta","El Rey", "El Jinete", "Si Nos Dejan","Cuando el Destino","El Caballo Blanco","Llego Borracho el Borracho" and "Que Te Vaya Bonito", as well as "Camino de Guanajuato", where he sang about his home State of Guanajuato as well as his home town of Dolores Hidalgo Guanajuato. In addition to his own hit recordings, many of his songs have been recorded successfully by singers around the Spanish-speaking world, most notably by Pedro Infante, Javier Solís, Pedro Fernández, Jorge Negrete, Luis Miguel, Lola Beltrán, Lucha Villa, Vicente Fernández and the spaniard Joaquin Sabina. He died of hepatitis and is regarded, arguably, as one of the best Mexican songwriters of all time.