José González

José Gabriel González, born 31 July 1978 in Västergötland, Gothenburg, is a Swedish folk singer‑songwriter and guitarist who began his musical journey in the city’s punk scene before shifting to acoustic guitar. After a brief stint in a PhD program, he released a two‑track single in June 2003, which attracted the attention of Imperial Records and led to his debut album Veneer in October 2003; the record was subsequently issued in the UK and US in 2005. José González followed with In Our Nature (2007) and Vestiges & Claws (2015), the latter earning the IMPALA Album of the Year Award. His solo work includes the widely used cover of "Heartbeats" and the original "Crosses", which appeared on the 2013 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty soundtrack. In addition to his solo output, he performs with the band Junip and has collaborated with Zero 7, Jori Hulkkonen, and the Red Hot Organization. José González has toured extensively, including a European tour with Göteborg String Theory in 2011, and his releases have charted in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, with Veneer achieving platinum status in Sweden and gold in Australia. He continues to record, with Local Valley issued in September 2021 and Against the Dying of the Light released in March 2026.