Searching for Sugar Man

THE ROCK ICON WHO DIDN'T KNOW IT: RODRIGUEZ Sixto Rodriguez was an American folk musician living in Detroit. Music critics and producers thought he was Bob Dylan's equal and could be the voice of his generation. He signed to Sussex Records and released two albums, Cold Fact in 1970 and Coming from Reality in 1971. They bombed. Rodriguez never made another album. That's where this story ends and two others begin. RODRIGUEZ COLD FACT As the story goes, an American girl was visiting her boyfriend in South Africa and brought "Cold Fact" with her. People loved it but couldn't buy it, so they started bootlegging it on tape. To make ends meet he did construction jobs during the day and played in Detroit dive bars at night. His albums were a huge hit and after Sussex Records sold out of their stock, the rights were bought by Australian label Blue Goose Music and re-released in 1976. "He was just a drifter. I didn't know if he had a home. He looked like he would go from shelter to shelter." "To many South Africans, he was the soundtrack to our lives. To us, it was one of the most famous Dan Dimaggio Detroit Bartender records of all time." Rodriguez cared for his three daughters by continuing to work construction jobs. Steven Segerman, record store owner With its anti-establishment message, Cold Fact became the anthem to the "We lived in 26 anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. different homes. Some houses didn't have bed- And yet, no one knew who Rodriguez was. Everyone thought he was dead. The rumor rooms, some didn't have bathrooms." Eva Rodriguez, Daughter was he had committed suicide by setting himself on fire during a show. Even though his album went platinum in South Africa and 5x platinum in Australia, Rodriguez received no royalties from Sussex Records. Still involved in politics, Rodriguez ran for mayor of Detroit, and lost. Some music journalists set out to find out how he had died. After years of searching, they found out he was alive and living in Detroit. They told him he was They asked Rodriguez to do a tour in South Africa. Rodriguez agreed. famous in South Africa. Rodriguez played six sold-out shows in South Africa to thousands of adoring fans, many in disbelief. "It was like Elvis coming back from the dead. Craig Bartholomew-Strydom, Music Journalist "I thought that I would see him being bewildered at all these people staring at him, but it was the opposite. it's like he had arrived at that thing he had tried to find his whole life." "It was a beautiful dream.. and then we had to give it back." - Eva Rodriguez Rodriguez went back to living a modest life, doing manual labor to make ends meet. Several years later, a documentary filmmaker discovered this story while traveling in South Africa, and set out to tell the world. After Searching for Sugar Man was released, Sixto Rodriguez has performed on the David Letterman and Jay Leno shows and been featured on 60 Minutes, CNN and other news outlets. Searching for Sugar Man has been nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Documentary. SEARCHING SUGAR MAN "See This Movie! Leaves You Feeling Joyous and Moved." 100% #SearchingforSugarMan