The González family—made up of González's father, a National University of San Luis psychology student, González's mother, a fellow student studying biochemistry, both of whom were politically active, and González's older sister, then an infant—fled Argentina after the military coup d'état in March 1976, at the start of the "Dirty War".
1977
Escaping to Brazil, they were granted asylum by the Swedish consulate in Rio de Janeiro and relocated to Gothenburg in 1977.
José was born a year later, in the Haga district of Gothenburg.
He has said, "It's a very small town. It has about a half-million people living there. It's a pretty good music city by the ocean. It rains a lot there, but it's beautiful in the summertime."
González grew up listening to Latin folk and pop music and has named Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez as a favourite artist.
He said the first concert he went to was the Wailers.
"I got their autographs and everything", he mentioned in an interview.
"I was about 12 or so. At the time, my favourite music was Bob Marley and Michael Jackson."
González was in a PhD program for biochemistry at the University of Gothenburg.
1978
José Gabriel González (born 31 July 1978) is a Swedish indie folk singer-songwriter and guitarist from Gothenburg.
González is also a member of the band Junip, along with Tobias Winterkorn.
José González was born in Gothenburg, Sweden, to Argentine parents.
1993
He later played bass guitar in another hardcore band, Renascence, between 1993 and 1998.
1997
Between 1997 and 1998, he played guitar with the rock band Only If You Call Me Jonathan.
2003
In 2003, he paused his studies, as his music career became a new focus.
The first band González played in was Back Against the Wall, a Gothenburg hardcore punk group influenced by Black Flag, Misfits, and Dead Kennedys.
In June 2003, González issued his debut solo release, a two-track 7 in single.
It was discovered by Joakim Gävert, co-founder of the then-fledgling label Imperial Records, who signed González as their first official artist.
In October, González released his debut album, Veneer, in Europe.
2005
The record was subsequently released in the UK on 25 April 2005 and in the United States on 6 September 2005.
González had begun working on the material while still a PhD student.
González' trademark sound is solo classical guitar with soft vocal melody.
His work, although mostly original, also includes acoustic covers of such hits as "Heartbeats" by his fellow Swedes the Knife, "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division, "Born in the U.S.A." and "The Ghost of Tom Joad" by Bruce Springsteen, "Hand on Your Heart" by Kylie Minogue, "Smalltown Boy" by Bronski Beat, "Teardrop" by Massive Attack, and "Last Snowstorm of the Year" by Low.
González collaborated with Finnish house DJ Jori Hulkkonen on the track "Blinded by the Numbers", from Hulkkonen's 2005 album, Dualizm.
He has also worked with the Swedish hip hop DJ and producer Embee, on the track "Send Someone Away".
2006
He collaborated with UK downtempo duo Zero 7 on their 2006 album, The Garden, providing guest vocals, along with Zero 7 regular Sia.
González performs vocals on four songs: "Futures", "Left Behind", "Today", and "Crosses".
The latter sampled by British hip hop artist Plan B on the song "Cast a Light", which appears on the Paint It Blacker EP.
2007
His second album, In Our Nature, was released internationally on 22 September 2007.
Its lyrical content was in part influenced by books like The God Delusion by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and Practical Ethics by ethicist Peter Singer.
In 2007, González won a European Border Breakers Award.
2009
González collaborated with the Books on Red Hot Organization's Dark Was the Night compilation album, fundraising for HIV and AIDS awareness, which was released in February 2009.
2010
In 2010, a documentary about him, called The Extraordinary Ordinary Life of Jose Gonzalez, was released.
2015
His third album, Vestiges & Claws, was released in February 2015.
It was critically acclaimed and received the IMPALA Album of the Year Award.
On 17 February 2021, González released a single with Spanish lyrics, "El Invento".
In April, he issued "Visions", the second single from his next album, Local Valley, which came out on 17 September.
In 2023, González appeared in the feature film A Tiger in Paradise, which is a fictionalized depiction of his own life.
González plays in the band Junip with Tobias Winterkorn (and previously Elias Araya).
To date, Junip have released two EPs, Black Refuge and the free internet release Rope and Summit, along with two full-length albums, Fields and Junip.
