Sixto Rodriguez
Sixto Diaz Rodriguez (July 10, 1942 – August 8, 2023), mononymously known as Rodriguez, was an American musician from Detroit, Michigan.
Sixto Rodriguez
Sixto Diaz Rodriguez
- Rod Riguez
- Sixth Prince
- Jesús Rodríguez
July 10, 1942
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
August 8, 2023 (aged 81)
- Musician
- singer
- Vocals
- guitar
1967–1973
1998–2023
Though his career was initially met with little fanfare in the United States, he found success in South Africa, Australia (touring the country twice in his earlier career), and New Zealand. Unbeknownst to him for decades, his music grew extremely successful and influential in South Africa, where he is believed to have sold more records than Elvis Presley.[1][2] Information about him was scarce, and it was incorrectly rumored there that he had died by suicide shortly after releasing his second album.[3]
In the 1990s, determined South African fans managed to find and contact Rodriguez, which led to an unexpected revival of his musical career. This was told in the 2012 Academy Award-winning documentary film Searching for Sugar Man and helped give Rodriguez a measure of fame in his home country. In May 2013, Rodriguez received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from his alma mater, Wayne State University, in Detroit.[4]
Rodriguez lived in Detroit's historic Woodbridge neighborhood, through which he is seen walking in Searching for Sugar Man. He lived a simple life, possessing no telephone, and occasionally visited bars in the Cass Corridor section of Detroit near Woodbridge and Midtown, such as the Old Miami pub, where he performed live concerts for small local crowds.
Later life and death[edit]
In March 2013, Rolling Stone wrote that Rodriguez was suffering from glaucoma and was going blind. The disease had by then dramatically limited his vision and forced him to walk very slowly and often clutched to someones else's arm. They quoted Rodriguez as saying “I’m still able to make out some people in the crowd at my shows”.[62]
In August 2022, Le Monde reported that Rodriguez had become blind, and that he was still living in the same house in Detroit.[63]
In February 2023, Rodriguez suffered a stroke, then had surgery in March to repair stroke damage, followed by post-operative physical therapy.[64] Rodriguez's condition later worsened and was placed in hospice care.[65] He died on August 8, 2023, at the age of 81.[59][66][67][68] A concert celebrated his life on August 12, 2023, at Detroit's Majestic Theatre.[69]
He was married and had three daughters.[68]
Two Detroit area murals honor Rodriguez, one on a commercial building on Trumbull, across the street from his alma mater, Wayne State, [70] and another on the entire side of an apartment building at Vernor Hwy. and Sharon. Both were created while he was still alive.[71]