José Padilla

Bio

José Padilla (1955–2020) was a Spanish DJ and producer from Barcelona best known for shaping the chill-out and lounge sound of the 1990s. After moving to Ibiza in the late 1970s, he became the resident DJ at Café del Mar, where his sunset sets popularized downtempo, ambient, and Balearic grooves. His influential Café del Mar compilation series, launched in 1994, helped define the genre and introduced many listeners to artists such as A Man Called Adam and Afterlife. Padilla continued to release mix albums and original material until his death in 2020, leaving a lasting legacy in the global lounge scene.