Sixto Diaz Rodriguez death updates — Sugar Man musician dies at 81 after illustrious career as cause not announced

Searching for Sugar Man's success

The lost-and-found story made for an engrossing documentary, and Searching For Sugar Man went on to win, among other things, the 2013 BAFTA Award for Best Documentary and the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature the same year.

The documentary's popularity piqued Rodriguez's curiosity, and following its publication, the singer appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Rodriguez continued to play at a variety of places for the rest of the decade.

'The next Bob Dylan'

When his 1970 debut album Cold Fact was published on the Los Angeles independent label Sussex Records, Rodriguez, a singer-songwriter highly influenced by Bob Dylan and other 1960s-'70s confessional folk performers, looked poised for success, or at least a sustained career in music.

Rodriguez, who was already well-known in the Detroit region for his club and barroom performances, was dubbed "the next Dylan" by some, per .

More on Rodriguez's death

Sixto Rodriguez died at the age of 81 on August 8, 2023.

He left behind three daughters: Eva, Sandra, and Regan, as well as a divorce from his second wife, Konny Koskos.

His family was very interested in his profession, and he frequently took them with him on the trip.

His cause of death has not been made public as of the time of this writing.

About Sixto Rodriguez

Sixto Diaz Rodriguez was born in Detroit, Michigan on July 10, 1942. He was the sixth child of working-class Mexican immigrants.

In the 1920s, his father immigrated to the United States from Mexico; his mother was Native American.

They were part of a significant inflow of Mexicans who had arrived in the Midwest to work in Detroit's industries. Mexican immigrants endured tremendous estrangement and marginalization at the time.

Rodriguez takes a political position on the issues that the inner-city poor experience in most of his songs.

Fans praise Searching for Sugarman

As fans are mourning Rodriguez's death, many are reflecting on his film, Searching for Sugarman.

Sugar Man's buzz

Searching For Sugar Man sparked interest at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the audience prize, and was picked up for distribution by Sony Pictures Classics, generating a solid $3.7million in the United States.

The next year, it won the BAFTA Award for best documentary as well as the Academy Award for best documentary feature.

Searching For Sugar Man explained

Searching for Sugar Man is a 2012 documentary film written and directed by Malik Bendjelloul.

The film is about a South African cultural phenomenon that details the efforts in the late 1990s of two Cape Town fans, Stephen "Sugar" Segerman and Craig Bartholomew Strydom, to determine whether the rumored death of American musician Sixto Rodriguez was true and, if not, what had become of him.

Rodriguez's music, which had never charted in the United States, had grown extremely famous in South Africa, despite the fact that nothing was known about him there.

'Thanks for keeping me alive'

Rodriguez was brought to South Africa for a brief run of sold-out concerts after an almost 30-year hiatus from music.

He famously replied to one audience's wild ovation: "Thanks for keeping me alive."

Previous speculation of Rodriguez being dead in the 90s

For years, stories in South Africa spread that Rodriguez had committed suicide on stage, either by shooting himself or lighting himself on fire.

In 1997, a writer and the owner of a fan website — where the enigmatic artist's visage was featured on a milk carton — found that the singer was still alive and well in Detroit.

Rodriguez found fame in other countries

Though he initially launched his music career in , Rodriguez found success overseas in , , and .

His two albums, Cold Face and Coming From Reality, flopped in the United States, leading Rodriguez to put down the guitar and devote his life to other things.

However, unbeknownst to him, in South Africa, he was considered a bigger star than Elvis and the Rolling Stones.

Rodriguez appeared frail in final pictures

The  native appeared frail in several snaps backstage with Matthews in June 2021.

The American rock band guitarist paid tribute to Rodriguez, calling him a legend.

"This man is a legend. I remember being 13 when I first heard him," Matthews captioned the  post.

Rodriguez appeared frail in final pictures

The  native appeared frail in several snaps backstage with Matthews in June 2021.

The American rock band guitarist paid tribute to Rodriguez, calling him a legend.

"This man is a legend. I remember being 13 when I first heard him," Matthews captioned the  post.

Cause of death not revealed

While Rodriguez's death has been confirmed, a cause was not released.

He died on August 8, 2023, at the age of 81.

Rodriguez's rise to fame

Sixto Rodriguez, known professionally as Rodriguez, was a popular singer-songwriter who was born on July 10, 1942, in Detroit, Michigan.

He began his career in the late 1960s and found much success overseas, but it wasn't until the 2012 Oscar-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man that he gained attention from American audiences.

More about Rodriguez's wife

Sixto Rodriguez was married to Konny Rodriguez for nearly 40 years.

The pair tied the knot in 1984 and were together up until his 2023 passing.

They share one child together, Regan.

Prior to his marriage to Konny, he welcomed two daughters, Eva and Sandra, with his first wife, Rayma Rodriguez.

Fans mourn singer

Fans are sharing tributes on social media as they learn of Rodriguez's death.

Rodriguez left the music scene

After his first two albums failed to see commercial success, Rodriguez left the music scene.

He previously said that after his second album was released in 1971, he "went back to work."

Rodriguez worked on sites doing demolition and home renovation, according to .

Call it a comeback

After his albums flopped, Rodriguez received a call in 1979 asking him to perform in Australia.

He went again in 1981, per .

"I thought they were strange flukes," said Rodriguez about the situation.

Rise to fame in the 1970s

Although Rodriguez wasn't widely known in today's music scene, the singer-songwriter made head waves in the 1970s.

While working on an assembly line in Detroit and playing music in clubs, he was discovered by producers Mike Theodore and Dennis Coffey, per .

His debut album Cold Fact was released in 1970.

Rodriguez had two albums flop

In the early 1970s, Rodriguez recorded two albums in Detroit called Cold Fact (1970) and Coming From Reality (1971).

Both failed commercially in the United States.

Rodriguez believed it was the end of his musical journey. He started a family while working day labor.

He graduated from Wayne State University with a philosophy degree and became politically involved.

He ran for mayor, municipal council, and state senate without success.

Eventually, Rodriguez became a Cass Corridor figure, and he was frequently seen going around the area dressed in black and carrying a guitar bag over his shoulder.

Rodriguez's albums

The late songwriter's albums include:

• Cold Fact
• Coming From Reality
• Rodriguez Alive
• Live Fact
• Rodriguez Rocks: Live in Australia
• After the Fact
• At His Best
• The Best of Rodriguez
• Sugarman: The Best of Rodriguez
• Searching for Sugarman
• Coffret Rodriguez

'A great odyssey'

Rodriguez told in a 2008 interview: "It's been a great odyssey.

"All those years, you know, I always considered myself a musician. But, reality happened."

On Searching for Sugar Man

The 2012 documentary Searching for Sugar Man followed Rodríguez's journey from obscurity to international recognition decades after he made two albums in Detroit in the early 1970s.

Malik Bendjelloul's film, written and directed by him, received the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 85th Academy Awards ceremony in 2013.

Rodriguez was featured in a documentary

Rodriguez was featured in the Oscar-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man in 2012.

The film follows to of his fans in search of the singer-songwriter after he was rumored to have died in South Africa.

Rodriguez leaves behind three daughters

Sixto Rodriguez is survived by his daughters:  Eva, Sandra, and Regan.

He often took his family on the road with him, and they were involved in his career.

At the time of his death, he was separated from his second wife, Konny Koskos.