SEARCH CALLED OFF FOR SUGAR MAN
Of all the Jerry Lewis phenomena where an entertainer achieves their greatest renown outside of their home country, Sixto Rodriguez perhaps took it to the greatest extreme. Detroit-based Rodriguez released several folk rock albums in the early 70s that made all the splash of a raindrop in the Great Lakes. In America, anyway. A following grew in Australasia, and especially in South Africa, where his rebellious message struck a chord with apartheid opponents and invited comparisons to Bob Dylan. He’s believed to have sold more records in South Africa than Elvis Presley.
Rodriguez was unaware of his largest fanbase for decades, and inversely his South African fans knew little of the man beyond the music (censorship by the apartheid government didn’t help matters) and rumours swirled that he died of suicide or an overdose in the 70s. That all changed when Rodriguez’s daughter discovered a South African fan site in the Internet’s nascent Dancing Baby days. He toured South Africa multiple times, and his history with the country was depicted in 2012 documentary Searching For Sugar Man that also led to belated recognition in the States. He was 81 and sweetens the deal for Thats 70’s Mixtape.
Sixto Rodriguez
10 July 1942 – 8 August 2023, aged 81
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