José González was born in Gothenburg, Sweden, to Argentine parents. 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". Escaping to Brazil, they were granted asylum by the Swedish consulate in Rio de Janeiro and relocated to Gothenburg in 1977.[2] José was born a year later, in the Haga district of Gothenburg.[3][4] 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."[5] González grew up listening to Latin folk and pop music and has named Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez as a favourite artist.[3] 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."[6] González was in a PhD program for biochemistry at the University of Gothenburg.[7] In 2003, he paused his studies, as his music career became a new focus.