Sixto Rodriguez, 'Sugar Man' songwriter who played unforgettable 2013 Tampa show, dies at age 81

Sixto Rodriguez, the cult folk rock hero from Detroit who found success beyond the Motor City long unknown even to himself, died Tuesday, according to his friends and family. He was 81.

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

It added, “May His Dear Soul Rest In Peace.”

Rodriguez played an unforgettable 2013 Tampa show at Straz Center where Creative Loafing Tampa Bay experienced a "truly once-in-a-lifetime vibe that seem to carry through the entirety of the evening."

Born the sixth child of Mexican immigrants (hence “Sixto”), Rodriguez started writing and performing music, drawing on his working-class upbringing for inspiration and earning comparisons to the likes of Bob Dylan. He scored a record deal with Los Angeles label Sussex Records, releasing the psych-rock Cold Fact (and his signature song, the melancholy ode to drug dealers “Sugar Man”) in 1970 and Coming from Reality in 1971, both under his last name. Both flopped, and Rodriguez quit music to work blue-collar jobs in Detroit, studying philosophy at Wayne State University, and living in the city’s Woodbridge neighborhood.

Little did he know that thanks to a deal with Australian record label Blue Goose, his albums became hits there, as well as in New Zealand, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, where his politically charged songs resonated among anti-apartheid protesters. Rodriguez was a mystery to his fans, too, rumored to have died by suicide.

In the meantime, Rodriguez ran unsuccessfully for local office, including for City Council in 1989, for Mayor in 1981 and 1993, and for the Michigan House of Representatives in 2000.

“I ran for mayor of Detroit. I ran for city council of Detroit. I ran for state rep of Michigan. And I also ran for my life,” he told Metro Times in 2010 with a laugh, adding, “I had no choice. … The only thing worse than having too much to do is having nothing to do. So I had to work [because] nothing was happening for me in music. You do what you do to survive.”

While Rodriguez was invited to perform in Australia in 1979 and 1981, he was unaware of his fame in South Africa until his daughter Eva found a website dedicated to him, leading to a second act for his career. Cold Fact and Coming from Reality were reissued in 2009, and Rodriguez began to perform for larger audiences. A documentary about the rediscovery of Rodriguez, titled Searching for Sugar Man, was released in 2012, earning critical acclaim.

“It’s been a crazy odyssey,” he told Metro Times.

Rodriguez had faced deteriorating health in recent years. In an email last month ahead of a birthday show at Detroit’s Cadieux Cafe, his daughter Sandra gave Metro Times an update on his health.

“He is recovering from a stroke [...] it’s been a hard recovery,” she said. “He is anticipating and looking forward to hearing some musical Medicine.”

This post first appeared at Detroit Metro Times.

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