José José

Known across the globe to Latin music enthusiasts as "El Príncipe de la Canción," José José built a long and decorated career as both a chart-topping vocalist and screen performer. More than five decades of activity brought him sales in the tens of millions. His rich, formally trained tenor found an immediate spotlight when he delivered a gripping rendition of "El Triste" at a Mexico City festival in 1970, instantly elevating him throughout Latin America. For the following twenty years he maintained a steady presence in the upper reaches of the charts, moving fluidly among rancheras, mariachis, boleros, bossas, pop, rock, and classical pieces. Standout entries from that era include the widely collected tracks "De Pueblo en Pueblo," "Hasta Que Vuelvas," "Déjame Conocerte," "Sentimientos," "Paloma," and "Gavilan o Paloma." Between 1971 and 1989 he issued more than twenty-five albums and nearly one hundred singles. Although new releases slowed in the 1990s, singles such as "40 y 20," "Llora Corazón," and "El Mas Feliz del Mundo" still reached the Top 20 on a regular basis. Despite worsening health, he completed his last collection of original studio recordings, Tenampa, in 2001. Parallel to his musical renown, José maintained an active acting résumé, appearing in a dozen films and numerous television productions. In 2004 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He continued to focus on screen work until stepping away from public life a few years before his death, by which time he had already shaped the paths of later artists such as Christian Castro, Julieta Venegas, Natalia Lafourcade, Los Claxons, Mon Laferte, and Carla Morrison.

Born José Romulo Sosa Ortíz in Mexico City, he grew up with an operatic-tenor father, José Sosa Esquivel, and a classical-pianist mother, Margarita Ortiz. During his teenage years he took up the guitar and began performing at local festivals and competitions. His debut single, the 1965 coupling "El Mundo" b/w "Mi Vida," marked his first commercial outing. In 1967 he joined the group Los Peg as double bassist and contributed to their initial album. Success in singing contests soon secured him a contract with RCA in 1969. The regional hit "Nave del Olvido" appeared on his first solo effort, Cuidado. The following year his OTI Festival victory with "El Triste" propelled both the single and its parent album to prominence across Latin America, after which he quickly followed with Buscando una Sonrisa. Over the next seven years he maintained a near-constant flow of singles, among them the number-one entries "De Pueblo en Pueblo" in 1972, "Déjame Conocerte" in 1974, "Sentimientos" in 1975, and "Gavilan o Paloma" in 1977. His reach extended beyond Latin America to chart success in Japan—where he toured repeatedly—as well as Germany and the Benelux countries, while in the United States he cultivated a loyal audience stretching from Los Angeles and New York City to Miami through releases that included the 1976 album El Príncipe (which cemented his enduring nickname), 1978’s Lo Pasado, Pasado, and the multi-platinum Amor Amor in 1980. His acting career also commenced in the 1970s with Sueño de Amor and La Carrera del Millón.

By the early 1980s José enjoyed worldwide acclaim from both audiences and reviewers, selling out venues from Japan to Los Angeles, New York, Buenos Aires, and Mexico City. Composer Manuel Alejandro helmed the 1983 blockbuster Secretos, which surpassed four million copies sold, topped the Latin Albums chart, and earned him the first of six Grammy nominations, none of which resulted in a win. The platinum-certified Reflexiones repeated the top-charting feat in 1984, and 1986’s Siempre Contigo became his third consecutive album to reach number one on the Latin Albums survey while also achieving platinum status. Although 1987’s Soy Asi fell short of platinum, it earned gold certification and extended his streak of consecutive chart-toppers to four. In 1988 he released Sabor a Mí, the original score and soundtrack to the biographical film centered on songwriter Álvaro Carrillo, in which José portrayed the lead role.

The 1990 album En las Buenas y en las Malas, produced by Daniel Freiberg and Oscar Lopez, yielded three Top Ten singles, one of them the chart-topping "Amnesia." Four years later, 40 y 20 arrived via a collaboration with Argentine songwriter and producer Roberto Livi. Cut in Miami and Los Angeles, the title track—an account of an older man’s romance with a woman half his age—remained on the charts for eighteen weeks and peaked at number four. Follow-up single "Eso No Más" reached number five after fifteen weeks, helping the project attain triple-gold status. José supported the release with concerts across the Americas, among them appearances at New York’s Madison Square Garden and Chicago’s Pavilion.

Marking three decades in music, he stayed active. Rejoining composer Alejandro, he issued Grandeza Mexicana in 1993; its title track climbed to number twelve on Hot Latin Tracks and stayed on the survey for eight weeks. On screen he starred in the dramatic feature Perdóname Todo, portraying an alcoholic former star confronting his self-destructive habits and the pressures of the music industry—an echo of his own life, as he had already maintained sobriety for three years after struggling with alcoholism since age fifteen. A second 1993 release, Mujeriego, moved more than 180,000 copies in its first fortnight and reached number twelve on the Top Latin Albums chart, driven by the number-six single "Llora Corazón." In May 1995 that track received a Lo Nuestro nomination for Pop Song of the Year. He also contributed a duet of "Déjame Conocerte" to Paul Anka’s Amigos album. The 1996 compilation Tesoros gathered previously unreleased 1970s material, while Y Algo Mas offered an atypical collection that included three duets—one with Jose Feliciano and two with Marco Antonio Muniz—plus his earliest four recordings from 1965. Closing the century, 1998’s Distancia, written and co-produced by Roberto Livi and Rafael Ferro, earned triple-gold certification. In 1999 he appeared alongside vocalists Marco Antonio Muñiz, Armando Manzanero, and Raúl Di Blasio on Bohemia and returned for a second volume the following year.

Vocal difficulties began to surface during the making of his 2001 mariachi album Tenampa, written and produced by Juan Gabriel. Critics responded harshly to his diminished range, yet the project still sold 500,000 copies and entered the Top Ten. Further vocal decline after 2001 left him unable to sing and often unable to speak. Hoping for recovery, he and BMG assembled the three-album set El Principe con Trio, revisiting hits originally recorded between 1969 and 1983 and reinterpreting them as boleros with guitar trio Los Tres Caballeros. Longtime associate Rafael Pérez Botija produced the project and supplied some of the original compositions. The gamble succeeded: the collection spent thirty weeks on the Top Latin Albums chart and peaked at number twelve.

Throughout the decade he took on acting roles in the American film Sueño, appearing as the "Mystery Musician," and earned acclaim for his portrayal of Erasmo Padilla in the popular Mexican adaptation La Fea Más Bella, itself based on the Colombian series Betty la Fea that later inspired the U.S. version Ugly Betty. In 2006 he served as a vocal coach on Televisa’s Cantando por un Sueño.

Another compilation, 2007’s Mis Duetos, introduced two new recordings: "E-mail Me" with his youngest daughter Sara and "Aunque Vivas con El" with pop singer Reyli. The next year he released the single "Volver a Creer," written and performed with Yanni and later included on the latter’s Voces. Following the model of other major entertainers, he launched a signature perfume in 2007, directing proceeds to charities aiding women and children affected by HIV/AIDS.

Neither José nor BMG accepted his vocal limitations as final. Applying the same approach used on Tenampa, he delivered Ranchero in 2010, re-recording past hits with fresh acoustic mariachi arrangements; the album reached number thirty-five on Top Latin Albums.

Health complications intensified: a 2007 diagnosis of Bell’s Palsy and treatment for diabetes, followed in 2012 by surgery addressing stomach issues caused by gastritis. In November 2013 he underwent cataract removal. The 2014 release Big Band presented another collection of earlier material set against new big-band instrumentation.

In March 2017 José José received a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. He issued one final archival project, Sinfonico, in 2018. He died at a Miami hospital on September 28, 2019, at the age of seventy-one. At the time of his passing he had been preparing yet another reimagined collection of archival recordings. Producers Armando Ávila and executive producer Emilio Ávila completed the work, employing period instruments while preserving original arrangements and harmonies and overdubbing José’s voice from the master tapes. The resulting José por Siempre José appeared on the first anniversary of his death.