Back Rodriguez Afrikaans سيكستو رودريغيز Arabic سيكستو رودريجيز ARZ سیکستو رودریقز AZB Sixto Rodriguez Breton Sixto Diaz Rodríguez Catalan Sixto Rodriguez Czech Sixto Rodriguez Welsh Sixto Diaz Rodriguez Danish Rodriguez (Musiker) German
Sixto Rodriguez | |
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 Rodriguez in 2007 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Sixto Diaz Rodriguez |
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| Born | July 10, 1942 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | August 8, 2023 (aged 81) |
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| Years active | 1967–1973 1998–2023 |
| Labels | |
| Website | sugarman |
Sixto Diaz Rodriguez (July 10, 1942 – August 8, 2023), mononymously known as Rodriguez, was an American musician from Detroit, Michigan.
Though his career was initially met with little fanfare in the United States, he found success in South Africa, Australia (touring the country twice in his earlier career), and New Zealand. Unbeknownst to him for decades, his music grew extremely successful and influential in South Africa, where he is believed to have sold more records than Elvis Presley.[1][2] Information about him was scarce, and it was incorrectly rumored there that he had died by suicide shortly after releasing his second album.[3]
In the 1990s, determined South African fans managed to find and contact Rodriguez, which led to an unexpected revival of his musical career. This was told in the 2012 Academy Award-winning documentary film Searching for Sugar Man and helped give Rodriguez a measure of fame in his home country. In May 2013, Rodriguez received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from his alma mater, Wayne State University, in Detroit.[4]
Rodriguez lived in Detroit's historic Woodbridge neighborhood, through which he is seen walking in Searching for Sugar Man. He lived a simple life, possessing no telephone, and occasionally visited bars in the Cass Corridor section of Detroit near Woodbridge and Midtown, such as the Old Miami pub, where he performed live concerts for small local crowds.
- ^ Malitz, David (July 26, 2012). "'Searching for Sugar Man' documentary rediscovers musician Sixto Rodriguez". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved May 13, 2018.
- ^ Bendjelloul, Malik, director. Searching for Sugar Man. StudioCanal, 2012.
- ^ Petridis, Alexis (October 6, 2005). "The singer who came back from the dead". The Guardian. Retrieved May 13, 2018.
- ^ Herrera, Halston (April 29, 2013). "Detroit folk singer Sixto Rodriguez to get honorary doctoral degree from Wayne State University". ClickOnDetroit.com. Retrieved November 6, 2023.