'Sugar Man' singer Rodriguez dies at 81

Sixto Rodriguez, the obscure singer and songwriter who became the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary Searching for Sugarman, has died at the age of 81.

“It is with great sadness that we at Sugarman.org announce that Sixto Diaz Rodriguez has passed away,” a statement posted on his website on Tuesday said, without providing a cause of death.

His death in Detroit, Michigan in the United States was confirmed on Wednesday by his granddaughter, Amanda Kennedy.

Rodriguez’s albums flopped in the US in the 1970s, but – unknown to him – he later became a star in South Africa, where his songs protesting the Vietnam War, social mores, the abuse of women and racial inequality became hits.

Swedish filmmaker Malik Bendjelloul’s documentary Searching for Sugar Man presented Rodriguez to a much larger audience. The film tells of two South Africans’ mission to seek out the fate of their musical hero. It won the Academy Award for best documentary in 2013.

Rodriguez was “more popular than Elvis” in South Africa, Stephen “Sugar” Segerman said in 2013. The Cape Town record store owner’s nickname comes from the Rodriguez song “Sugarman”.