José Alfredo Jiménez

The most prolific composer in ranchera history, Jiménez wrote over 1,000 songs including Camino de Guanajuato, El Rey, and La Media Vuelta, which have been recorded by virtually every Mexican singer of the past 70 years. Self-taught and unable to read music, Jiménez composed everything by ear and memory — a fact that makes his melodic sophistication all the more remarkable.