Sixto Rodriguez

Sixto Rodriguez (born July 10, 1942, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.—died August 8, 2023, Detroit) was an American singer-songwriter known for his genre-defying music that combines folk, rock, jazz, soul, and blues and for his protest-style lyrics that comment on social injustices. After he had stepped away from music, his career was resurrected when he learned that his music had achieved fame in Australia and South Africa. His story is told in the documentary film Searching for Sugar Man (2012).

Early life and career

Rodriguez was the sixth child born to working-class parents who immigrated to the United States from Mexico in the 1920s, and he was named for his place in the children’s birth order (“Sixto” means sixth in Spanish). He grew up in Detroit. At age 16 Rodriguez both began playing the guitar and dropped out of high school.

He recorded his first single, “I’ll Slip Away,” on producer Harry Balk’s Impact label under the name Rod Riguez in 1967 after meeting Balk while performing at a club in Detroit. In 1969 Rodriguez recorded his debut album, Cold Fact, on the Los Angeles-based Sussex label, for which soul singer-songwriter Bill Withers also recorded. This time he released the album under the mono moniker Rodriguez. After the album’s release in March 1970, Rodriguez traveled to London to record his second album for Sussex, Coming from Reality, at Lansdowne Studios. It was released in November 1971.

Although Cold Fact received positive reviews, it did not do well commercially, at least partly because of a lack of sufficient marketing and because of the label’s financial problems. Coming from Reality suffered the same fate, and because its songs were credited to either Jesus Rodriguez (Rodriguez’s brother Jesse Rodriguez) or Sixth Prince to avoid release delays, Rodriguez was unable to obtain royalties. Shortly thereafter he left the music business to split his time between pursuing a college education and working. Sussex Records went out of business in 1975.

Rediscovery and fame in Australia and South Africa

Rodriguez lived a quiet life working as a labourer and raising three daughters in Detroit, all while having no idea that Cold Fact had been released in Australia and South Africa and that his music was immensely popular in both countries, specifically for its lyrics addressing social injustice. In 1970 Festival Records imported 400 copies to Australia, and in 1971 A&M Records released the album in South Africa. In 1976 several thousand additional copies of Cold Fact were imported to Australia after being discovered in a New York warehouse. They sold out in just a few weeks.

The first that Rodriguez learned about his success in Australia was when Melbourne-based promoter Zev Eizik tracked him down in 1979. He then toured Australia twice, once in 1979 and again in 1981, before he stopped performing again. Rodriguez was unaware that he also had a massive fan base in South Africa until after record store owner Stephen (“Sugar”) Segerman and journalist Craig Bartholomew Strydom began to search for him in 1996. They set up a website called the Great Rodriguez Hunt and discovered he was living in Detroit. The two men connected with Rodriguez and then organized a 1998 tour of South Africa for him.

After that tour, Rodriguez toured Sweden in 1998 and South Africa again in 2001. Between 1998 and 2007, he also played shows in South Africa, Namibia, England, Australia, and the Netherlands. During this time, Rodriguez released Live Fact (1998), recorded during the 1998 South African tour; Sugarman: The Best of Rodriguez (2005), a greatest hits compilation; and All the Facts (2009), a two-CD set, among other collections.

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Searching for Sugar Man

What finally brought Rodriguez to the attention of American audiences was Swedish television journalist Malik Bendjelloul’s award-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man (2012), which details Segerman and Bartholomew Strydom’s search for Rodriguez. The film’s name is derived from Rodriguez’s song “Sugar Man.” In addition to chronicling Segerman and Bartholomew Strydom’s quest, Searching for Sugar Man tells Rodriguez’s story and uncovers why he had never learned that his music had become anthemic for audiences in other countries, as well as the reason that his South African fans believed he was dead. The film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and won both the Audience Award and the Special Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema Documentary. It went on to win dozens of awards, including best documentary at the 2013 Academy Awards and the 2013 BAFTA Awards.

Later life

After the film brought Rodriguez international recognition, he returned to performing from 2012 through 2020 and played across the United States, as well as throughout the world. Several more albums were released during this time, including Searching for Sugarman (2012), the movie’s soundtrack; Cold Fact/Coming from Reality (2013), a greatest hits compilation; and Rodriguez Rocks: Live in Australia (2016), recorded during his 2014 tour of Australia.

In addition to his music career and work as a labourer, Rodriguez spent several years teaching after earning a Bachelor of Philosophy degree from Wayne State University’s Monteith College in 1981. The university awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2013. Rodriguez also ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Detroit (1981 and 1993) and for the Michigan House of Representatives (2000).