‘Searching For Sugar Man’ Subject Was 81 – Deadline

Sixto Diaz Rodriguez, the Detroit singer-songwriter higher recognized merely as Rodriguez whose seeming disappearance after a quick flirtation with musical success within the early Seventies was the topic of the Oscar-winning 2012 documentary Searching For Sugar Man, died right this moment. He was 81.

His demise was introduced on his official web site.

“It is with great sadness that we at Sugarman.org announce that Sixto Diaz Rodriguez has passed away earlier today,” the assertion reads. “We extend our most heartfelt condolences to his daughters – Sandra, Eva and Regan – and to all his family.”

A singer-songwriter closely influenced by Bob Dylan and different Sixties-’70s confessional folks musicians, Rodriguez appeared poise for fulfillment, or at the very least a sustainable profession in music, when his 1970 debut album Cold Fact was launched on the Los Angeles indie label (*81*) Records. Already acquainted within the Detroit space for his membership and barroom performances, Rodriguez was hailed by some as the subsequent Dylan.

Although the (*81*) label would quickly rating a serious victory with the 1971 launch of Bill Withers’ debut album Just As I Am, which included the large hit “Ain’t No Sunshine,” Rodriguez’s critically hailed album failed to achieve public traction. A subsequent album, 1971’s Coming From Reality, met with the identical destiny, and Rodriguez appeared to fade from the highlight.

But in what would turn out to be a central focus of the documentary, Rodriguez – unbeknownst to the singer himself – had discovered enduring recognition in Cape Town, South Africa, the place his albums have been so profitable that he was thought of a rival to Elvis Presley.

Despite the far-away success, the unknowing Rodriguez gave up his musical ambitions and returned to a quiet life as a laborer in Detroit, the place he lived for years with no phone. In the nations the place his music remained in style, together with Australia and New Zealand, info on the musicians was scant, and there have been rumors of demise and even on-stage suicide.

As chronicled in Searching For Sugar Man, written and directed by Malik Bendjelloul, two of the singer’s Cape Town followers started a whatever-happened-to investigation within the late Nineteen Nineties. After many false leads and purple herrings, the duo found Rodriguez’s off-the-radar existence in Detroit. The discovery led to a collection of sold-out concert events in South Africa and a late-career resurgence for the mysterious Rodriguez.

The lost-and-found story made for a charming documentary, and Searching For Sugar Man would go on to win, amongst different accolades, the 2013 BAFTA Award for Best Documentary and, that very same 12 months, the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

The success of the documentary generated appreciable curiosity in Rodriguez, and after its launch the singer made appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Rodriguez continued to carry out at varied venues for a lot of the subsequent decade.