Searching For Sugar Man: Sixto Rodriguez' Mythical Climb to Rock N Roll Fame and Fortune

by Howard A. DeWitt

Until 2012 the name Sixto Rodriguez didn’t mean much in America. But in South Africa, Sixto Rodriguez was a rock ‘n’ roll legend. When a documentary titled “Searching for Sugar Man,” about the musician’s surprising fame in South Africa won the Academy Award in 2012, Sixto Rodriguez found himself in the spotlight that evaded him for so long. Now in this new biography by prolific rock writer and historian Howard DeWitt, Sixto Rodriguez’s life and contributions to music receive the attention they deserve. Despite critical acclaim, Rodriguez’s two albums, recorded in the early 1970s, never sold many copies in the United States. So Rodriguez did what he had to, turning to manual labor in Detroit to raise three daughters as a single parent. Despite small pockets of dedicated fans cropping up over the years, Rodriguez remained virtually ignored by the music industry, though music business fat cats seemed more than willing to collect royalty earnings from his songs. Separating myth from the fascinating reality of this man’s life, Searching for Sugar Man presents Sixto Rodriguez for the brilliant contrarian he is—and celebrates his resurrection from the creative dead to find international stardom.

444 pages, Paperback

Published May 11, 2015

Reviews

[Jim Feliciano · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a book about Sixto Rodriguez. It is about the people who produced his two albums. It is also about the people who produced the Academy Award winning movie Searching for Sugar Man. It is also about the people who managed the companies that provided the funding for his albums. It does mention Sixto quite a bit but he is a simple man who leads a simple life. He has a couple of wives and a few children, but they are rarely mentioned in this book. Sixto was forgotten in the USA but was a big hit in South Africa and Australia. Nobody really knows what happened to any royalties. This book was fascinating. I am going to have to get a copy of the movie and a copy of Cold Fact. I have a copy of Coming from Reality, which was a gift with this book. There are many myths about Sixto. He is still alive. I am glad I received and read this book.