Mexican romantic ballad singer José José passes away

José José

was born on February 17, 1948 , in Mexico City . He started in the music industry as a part of a musical trio with his cousin and one of his friends, but later performed as a soloist in cafés.

In 1965 , he presented his first single and the next year, he started to record his album “Cuidado,” which was released three years later. He also dabbled in TV .

In the 70s , José José consolidated his position in the romantic ballad by recording over 10 albums, sometimes two per year, among which are “The Sad One” (El Triste), “Looking for a Smile” (Buscando una sonrisa), “José José,” “So Close, So Far” (Tan cerca, tan lejos), “The Prince” (El Príncipe), “Volcano” (Volcán), and “If You Leave Me Now” (Si me dejas ahora).

José José represented Mexico in the second edition of th e Latin Song Festival, winning the third place, for which the unhappy audience declared him as the winner with the song “El Triste” which became an international hit.

He dabbled in cinema with the films “Looking for a Smile” (Buscando una sonrisa), “Love Dream” (Sueño de amor), and “The Million Race” (La carrera del millón).

In 1982, he won the Plutonium album (first in its genre) for the sale of over 18 million copies of “Promises” (Promesas), entering the Guinness World Records as the Hispanic singer’s album with more sales in music history.

During the following years, songs like “The Past is Past” (Lo pasado pasado) and “Hawk or Dove” (Gavilán o paloma) became musical hymns while he won countless Gold and Platinum albums .

“The Prince of the Song”

supported altruistic causes, as happened with the song “We are the world” by the side of singers like Celia Cruz, Julio Iglesias, and María Conchita Alonso in support of the African community.

José José was a nominee nine years in a row for the Grammy in the Best Latin Pop Performance category and Billboard awarded him in the categories of Top Latin Artist and Top Latin Lp.

In 2003, his record label BMG launched a collection of three albums called “The Prince with musical trío” (El Príncipe con trío) with some of his hits from 1969 to 1983 accompanied by the musical group “The Three Gentlemen” (Los tres caballeros) .

This album collection with a new concept made him achieve tremendous sales success.

In 2005, he won the Grammy in recognition of his successful singing career .

In 2006, he was part of the cast of the soap opera “The Prettiest Ugly Girl” (La fea más bella) , with actors like Angélica María, Jaime Camil, and Angélica Vale. With his role, he won the TvyNovelas Award to Best Supporting Actor.

In May 2007, he returned to the music industry with his album “My Duets” (Mis duetos), which immediately entered Billboard’s Top 10.

Unfortunately, on June 6, 2007 , he suffered a facial paralysis that kept him away from stages for several months.

In February 2008, his record label released the album “The Prince and the bolero” (El Príncipe y el bolero) , and on that September, the Latin Recording Academy made him a homage in Miami. In November, in Miami’s World Book Fair , he launched his autobiography “This Is My Life” (Ésta es mi vida) as a testimony of his fight against addictions and how he overcame them.

On November 19, 2008 , José José received his s tar in Las Vegas Walk of Stars.

In 2010, the album “José José Ranchero” was released, a collection of his biggest hits with mariachi.

Likewise, he participated in the song for Mexico’s Independence Bicentenary , “73,000 Dawns” (73 mil amaneceres) with Marco Antonio Muñiz, María Victoria, Armando Manzanero, and Olivia Gorra.

In 201, he started his tour called “The Return of the Prince” (El regreso del Príncipe), with which he visited the most important stages of Central and South America , in addition to the United States and Mexico.

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