Jose Gonzalez Biography

Indie folk singer and songwriter Jose Gonzalez was born in 1978 in Sweden. Jose’s family fled Argentina two years before he was born, during a time when the country was faced with what is known today as the “Dirty War.” Young Jose was then born in Gothenburg, where he grew up listening to pop and Latin folk music, absorbing his influences from artists such as Silvio Rodriguez.

After graduating from high school, Gonzalez at first attended the University of Gothenburg with intentions to pursue a Ph.D. in Biochemistry. While in college, Jose joined the band Back Against the Wall, playing guitar for the hardcore punk group. However, during his time with the band, he continued to write his own music, and in 2003 he self-released a debut single. A chance meeting with a representative of Imperial Records then led to his first record deal, and Jose’s career took off.

After his debut album, Veneer, rose into the top ten in Sweden and the UK and earned him a Swedish Grammy for Best New Artist, Gonzalez left his Ph.D. program to pursue a career in music full time. The rest, as they say, is history. Today, Jose Gonzalez is best known for his gentle vocal melodies and unique classical guitar sound. His debut album was followed by the albums In Our Nature (2007) and Vestiges & Claws (2015), the latter of which became Jose’s first to chart in the United States. Notable singles from the albums include “ Heartbeats,” “Crosses,” “Hand on Your  Heart,” and “Down the Line.”

In addition to his own albums, Jose Gonzalez has also provided music for a number of other projects, including ones for the Ministry of Sound and for the film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. In 2010, Gonzalez was the subject of the documentary The Extraordinary Ordinary Life of Jose Gonzalez. Gonzalez is currently preparing material for his next studio album, expected in the coming year.