DER US-AMERIKANISCHE FOLKSÄNGER UND SONGWRITER SIXTO RODRIGUEZ IST GESTORBEN

Der am 10. Juli 1942 in Detroit geborene US-amerikanische Singer-Songwriter Sixto Díaz Rodríguez (Bild) ist am 8. August 2023 ebenda gestorben. Nach zwei Studioalben, die in seiner Heimat wenig Anklang fanden, zog er sich 1971 zunächst ins Privatleben zurück. Dass sich seine Musik unterdessen in Australien sowie in dem durch das Apartheid-Regime lange Zeit isolierten Südafrika grosser Beliebtheit erfreute, hat er erst spät erfahren. Die Umstände und Hintergründe seines Erfolgs in Südafrika ab 1998 sind ebenfalls Gegenstand des Oscar-prämierten Dokumentarfilms «Searching for Sugar Man» (2012), der Rodriguez schliesslich international bekannt machte. (*)

Bild: Sixto Rodriguez, 2013 in Schweden – Foto: Kim Metso, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Slackernrrd (Ausschnitt) – Lizenz: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en – Datei: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sixto_Rodriguez_Way_Out_West_2013.jpg

Rodriguez, subject of Oscar-winning doc ‚Searching for Sugar Man,‘ dies at 81

The 2012 «Searching for Sugar Man» documentary traced the nearly unbelievable tale of the folk musician’s journey from obscurity to international success that he achieved decades after he recorded two albums in Detroit in the early 1970s. The film, written and directed by Malik Bendjelloul, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 85th Academy Awards ceremony in 2013.

Louis Aguilar

https://eu.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/08/09/rodriguez-sugarman-dead-detroit/70555884007/

Rodriguez, Obscure Rocker Rediscovered by ‘Searching for Sugar Man,’ Dead at 81

Detroit musician enjoyed a career renaissance after 2012 Oscar-winning documentary

Andy Greene

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/rodriguez-searching-for-sugar-man-rocker-dead-obit-1234803231/

The singer-songwriter released two albums in the early ’70s and then disappeared into obscurity for decades

Enigmatic singer-songwriter Sixto Diaz Rodriguez — commonly referred to as just Rodriguez — has died at 81. The Detroit musician whose slow boil rise to international acclaim was chronicled in the Oscar-winning 2012 documentary Searching for Sugar Man, died on Tuesday night (Aug. 8) according to a statement on his official website.

Gil Kaufman

https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/rodriguez-dead-searching-for-sugar-man-singer-dies-1235388068/

For years, rumors had circulated in South Africa that Rodriguez was dead – that he had killed himself on stage, by shooting himself or setting himself on fire. In 1997, a journalist and the operator of a fan web site – where the elusive artist’s face was depicted on a milk carton — finally discovered that the singer was in fact still alive in Detroit.

Chris Morris

https://variety.com/2023/music/people-news/rodriguez-dead-dies-searching-for-sugar-man-1235691845/

Rodriguez, Musician and Subject of ‘Searching for Sugar Man,’ Dies at 81

The Detroit-born singer-songwriter found success in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand before becoming the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary.

Abbey White

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/sixto-diaz-rodriguez-dead-searching-for-sugar-man-1235559774/

The Michigan-born musician had struggled to sell many copies of his first two albums in the US in the 1970s and so quit to take on manual work. But his music gained popularity elsewhere in places such as Botswana, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Benjamin Lee

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/aug/09/searching-for-sugar-man-singer-rodriguez-dies

The folk-rock star came to South Africa for several shows after a 2012 Oscar award-winning documentary, Searching for Sugarman, which details the efforts in the late 1990s of two Cape Town fans to find out whether his then-rumoured death was true.

https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/entertainment/2023-08-09-sugarman-sixto-rodriguez-dies-at-age-of-81/

Muere a los 81 años el músico Sixto Rodríguez, protagonista del documental ‘Searching for Sugar Man’

El cantautor, de letras poéticas y melodías delicadas, publicó dos discos en los sesenta y se hizo célebre en Sudáfrica sin ser consciente de ello.

Sergio C. Fanjul

https://elpais.com/cultura/2023-08-09/muere-a-los-81-anos-el-musico-sixto-rodriguez-protagonista-del-documental-searching-for-sugar-man.html

Morto Sixto Rodriguez, il leggendario ‘Sugar Man’ aveva 81 anni

Il cantautore folk di Detroit divenne simbolo anti-apartheid a sua completa insaputa. Il mondo lo ha conosciuto grazie al doc premio Oscar ‘Searching for Sugar Man’

Giovanni Gagliardi

https://www.repubblica.it/spettacoli/musica/2023/08/09/news/morto_sixto_rodriguez_il_leggendario_sugar_man_aveva_81_anni-410571192/

Sixto Rodriguez, star méconnue revenue à la lumière grâce à un documentaire, est mort

Ouvrier à Detroit, star en Afrique du Sud, l’auteur-compositeur américain, longtemps oublié dans son pays, avait connu un retour en grâce à la suite du succès du documentaire oscarisé «Sugar Man». Il s’est éteint à l’âge de 81 ans.

https://www.lemonde.fr/disparitions/article/2023/08/09/sixto-rodriguez-star-meconnue-revenue-a-la-lumiere-grace-a-un-documentaire-est-mort_6184926_3382.html

Der Odysseus des Pop

Zum Tod des spät entdeckten amerikanischen Sängers und Songwriters Sixto «Sugar Man» Rodriguez

Jens-Christian Rabe

https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/sixto-rodriguez-nachruf-1.6112935?reduced=true

Der schwedische Dokumentarfilmer Malik Bendjelloul wurde Anfang der Nullerjahre auf die bemerkenswerte Comeback-Story aufmerksam. Er suchte den Sänger und traf ihn erstmals 2006; nach einigen Jahren Recherche entstand sein Dokumentarfilm «Searching For Sugar Man». Der prämierte Film war sehr beliebt, auch wenn er von manchen als etwas zu märchenhaft kritisiert wurde. Der gleichnamige Soundtrack hatte ebenfalls Erfolg.

https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/pop/der-musiker-sixto-rodriguez-ist-mit-81-jahren-gestorben-19092451.html

«Searching for Sugar Man»: Kultmusiker Sixto Rodriguez gestorben

win

https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000182401/searching-for-sugar-man-kultmusiker-sixto-rodriguez-gestorben

Seine Lieder, welche gegen den Vietnamkrieg, Rassendiskriminierung und den Missbrauch von Frauen protestierten, inspirierten etwa in Südafrika weisse Liberale, die von der Brutalität des dortigen Apartheidsystems entsetzt waren.

agenturen/hosb;fulu

https://www.srf.ch/news/international/searching-for-sugarman-sugarman-kultmusiker-sixto-rodriguez-81-jaehrig-gestorben

Audios / Videos:

Sugar Man

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esG4gK-pieA&list=OLAK5uy_kJoM8fDbg2I5aywnlQNufWsFUEG-yX0ks&t=3s

Crucify Your Mind

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OilHAe6Os3o

Rodriguez – Sugar Man (Live South Africa 1998)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i1mva31vAs

Rodriguez (aka Sugarman), Letterman, 2012

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1ifisA0_ss

Sixto Rodriguez – Sugar Man