Sixto Rodriguez became world famous after Swedish director Malik Bendjelloul’s Oscar-winning documentary “Searching for Sugarman” from 2012. It described the blue-collar worker from Detroit selling lots of pirated records in apartheid South Africa. There, too, Rodriguez became a myth, and a persistent rumor claimed that he shot himself on stage.
The American artist’s folk music never caught on at home, but abroad his career flourished. In 1970 he had his breakthrough with the song “Sugarman”. In South Africa, Rodriguez is believed to have sold more records than Elvis Presley.
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Sixto Rodriguez ended his music career in 1976, but in connection with the documentary that was released more than 30 years later, his music came to life again.
In 1998, Sixto Rodriguez appeared in TV4’s Nyhetsmorgon. There he described himself as a musician, father, grandfather and that he has a university degree in philosophy.
– I don’t call myself a rock star, but… I like the idea! he said in Nyhetsmorgen.
Sixto Rodriguez was 81 years old.
See when Sixto Rodriguez appeared in Nyhetsmorgen in 1998, in the clip above