It's a great little documentary that surprises with the emotional story it tells. Sixto Rodriguez released a couple of albums in the early 70s that were the equal of anything anyone else was putting out in the social commentary / protest song / wake yourself up motherfucker genre, but they flopped and he faded into obscurity. His music succeeded in unexpected places though, I had the albums in a house I shared in Sydney and he had an army of fans in South Africa. That's where 'Looking For Sugarman' comes in.. two SA fans go looking for their legend and find him.
Sixto Rodriguez has died in Chicago this week at 81 years old. Perhaps the greatest music star that never was, his music is a joy. RIP.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2125608/
https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/m ... es-aged-81
Sixto Rodriguez, who lived in obscurity as his music career flamed out early in the US only to find success in South Africa and a stardom he was unaware of, has died in Detroit. He was 81.
Rodriguez's legacy would take off back home after the singer and songwriter became the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man.
His death was announced on the Sugarman.org website and confirmed on Wednesday (local time) by his granddaughter, Amanda Kennedy.
He died following a short illness, according to his wife, Konny Rodriguez, 72.
A 2013 Associated Press story referred to Rodriguez as “the greatest protest singer and songwriter that most people never heard of”.
His albums flopped in the United States in the 1970s, but – unknown to him – he later became a star in South Africa where his songs protesting the Vietnam War, racial inequality, abuse of women and social mores inspired white liberals horrified by the country's brutal racial segregation system of apartheid.
Swedish filmmaker Malik Bendjelloul's documentary Searching for Sugar Man presented Rodriguez to a much larger audience. The film tells of two South Africans’ mission to seek out the fate of their musical hero. It won the Academy Award for best documentary in 2013.
