RIP Sixto Rodriguez
If you haven’t seen the documentary “Searching for Sugar Man,” it’s almost impossible to explain the story of Sixto Rodriguez in a short-form article. It’s too strange, too unbelievable, and honestly, too infuriating.
Even the man’s name somehow symbolizes the trajectory of his life: “Sixto” is Spanish for “Sixth,” and that was the name he was given because his parents had run out of ideas after the first five kids. That anonymity, that invisibility, would persist for most of his life despite his possessing what we now know was genius-level songwriting talent.
Rodriguez released two albums, in 1970 and 1971, after years of gigging in small dives in his hometown of Detroit. The albums didn’t sell in the U.S., and that was that, or so it seemed. But, unknown to him, his records sold well in other countries, especially South Africa and Australia. They became the core of protest music in South Africa, Rhodesia, and Botswana, where he and his songs attained almost mythic status.
His popularity grew steadily until he was one of the biggest rock stars in those countries — as big as the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. The problem is, no one told him, and certainly no one paid him. Where the profits from all those record sales went has never been determined, and no one has fessed up to stealing them. His original producer was evasive when asked, but clearly took some of…
