time, his reportedly alcoholic father abandoned the family forcing José to work to help his mother and younger brother. 1963–1969: Beginnings as singer At the age of fifteen, his mother gave him his first piano. Besides working in his teens, he learned to play guitar and sang in the church and in serenades along with his neighborhood friends for extra money. In 1967, at the age of 19, José formed Los Peg, a Mexican band of bossa nova/jazz. Although they made several recordings as a group, their songs were not successful. In 1965, under the name of "Pepe Sosa", pursuing a solo career encouraged by his mother, he recorded the singles "Ma vie" and "El Mundo" without success. He made a breakthrough with his artistic career when he was invited to perform a song for a friend's sister on her birthday. His friend's sister was the executive secretary for the managing director of Orfeón Records. He joined his first name "José" with his father's first name - also José - who died of alcoholism. He signed a contract with RCA Victor and recorded his first album: José José (also known as Cuidado). The album featured songs by Rubén Fuentes and Armando Manzanero. It was arranged by his former teacher Mario Patrón, who was considered the best jazz musician of Mexico, and employed Brazilian percussionist Mayuto Correa, who was in Mexico City playing with bossa nova stars João Gilberto, Carlos Lira, Leny Andrade and Tamba Trio. The album's sound is a combination of boleros and romantic ballads with a jazz and bossa nova influence. The quality of his debut album garnered praise from critics but did not achieve much popular success. 1970–1980: "El Triste", consolidation and Ariola Records In early 1970 he released the song "La nave del olvido" which became his first big hit in Mexico and Latin America, and recorded his second album: La Nave Del Olvido. José's big break came on 15 March 1970, when he represented Mexico in the international song festival the II Festival de la Canción Latina (Latin Song Festival II, predecessor of the OTI Festival) with a performance of the song "El Triste". Although José José finished in third place, his performance helped launch his music career to a wider audience. José José had several major hits in the 1970s including "De Pueblo en Pueblo", "Hasta Que Vuelvas", "Déjame Conocerte", "Sentimientos", "Paloma", and "Gavilan