"In the early 1970s, Sixto Rodriguez was a Detroit folksinger who had a short-lived recording career with only two well received but non-selling albums. Unknown to Rodriguez, his musical story continued in South Africa where he became a pop music icon and inspiration for generations. Long rumored there to be dead by suicide, a few fans in the 1990s decided to seek out the truth of their hero's fate. What follows is a bizarrely heartening story in which they found far more in their quest than they ever hoped..." ~ IMDB

Searching for Sugar Man

This documentary is far more than the words of IMDB. It is a fascinating and very uplifting story that had me in tears. Rodriguez inspired a nation at a time when it was going through the worst turmoil of it's history. Censorship was heavy in Botha's apartheid state and the oppression of the government sparked a long and bitter revolution. Rodriguez, with the depth of his lyrics moved a nation of people and in South Africa, he was bigger than Elvis or the Beatles. Even children would sing his words...

The outcome of this story is beyond compelling and a truly wonderful turn of events for such a humble and brilliant man.

Very cool!

Just as an added bit about him:

The search was successful due mainly to the Internet, which offered Craig far more immediate information than before and also due to the website, which we set up, called 'The Great Rodriguez Hunt'. Through 'Cold Fact' producer Mike Theodore, Craig discovered that Rodriguez was alive and well and still living in Detroit. Through the website we connected with Rodriguez' daughter, Eva, who filled in many of the blanks for us.

Unbeknown to Rodriguez and his family, he had accumulated a huge following in Southern Africa and Australasia through the '80's, and on an even broader international scale around the world during the '90's due to the mass emigration from SA and the consequent spreading of his music to countries where it had not yet been released.

http://sugarman.org/rod_profile.html

The entire article is fascinating.

If you can rent the documentary - you won't be disappointed. The players tell the story and it is mind blowing.