José Alfredo Jiménez (born January 9, 1926 in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato_(state), died November 23, 1973 in Mexico City, Mexico) was a Mexican singer-songwriter in the ranchera style. 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 100 songs. Among the most famous are "Si Nos Dejan", "Ella", "El Rey", "El Jinete", "Cuando el Destino" and "Que Te Vaya Bonito". 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 , Jorge Negrete , Lola Beltrán , Lucha Villa and Vicente Fernández .

He was the first singer who made a record with the influential tambora sinaloense band Banda el Recodo de Cruz Lizárraga .