Rodriguez (singer-songwriter)
| Rodriguez | |
|---|---|
Rodriguez signing autographs after a show: April 8, 2007
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Sixto Diaz Rodriguez |
| Also known as | Rod Riguez, Sixth Prince, Jesús Rodríguez |
| Born |
July 10, 1942 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, guitarist, poet, excavation worker, demolition worker |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1967–1973, 1979–1981, 1998–present |
| Labels |
Sussex RCA Impact Light in the Attic |
| Website | www |
Sixto Diaz Rodriguez, known professionally as Rodriguez (born July 10, 1942), is an American singer-songwriter from Detroit, Michigan. His career initially proved short lived in the United States, but unknown to Rodriguez his albums became extremely successful and influential in South Africa, where sales of his records outnumbered those of Elvis Presley. Because of scarce information about Rodriguez, it was incorrectly rumored there that he had committed suicide shortly after releasing his first album.
In the 1990s, determined South African fans managed to find and contact Rodriguez, which led to an unexpected revival of his musical career. This was told in the 2012 Academy Award–winning documentary film Searching for Sugar Man and helped give Rodriguez a measure of fame in his home country. In May 2013, Rodriguez received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from his alma mater, Wayne State University (WSU), in Detroit.
Rodriguez has been living in Detroit's historic Woodbridge neighborhood, through which he is seen walking in Searching for Sugar Man. He is known to live a simple life, possessing no telephone or cell phone of his own, and occasionally visiting bars in the Cass Corridor section of Detroit near Woodbridge and Midtown Detroit, such as the Old Miami pub, where he has performed live concerts for small local crowds.
Rodriguez was born in 1942 in Detroit, Michigan. He was the sixth child of Mexican immigrant working-class parents. He was named Sixto (pronounced "Seeks-toe") because he was their sixth son. His father had immigrated to the United States from Mexico in the 1920s; his mother was also from Mexico. They had joined a large influx of Mexicans who came to the midwest to work in Detroit's industries. Mexican immigrants at that time faced both intense alienation and marginalization. In most of his songs, Rodriguez takes a political stance on the difficulties that faced the inner city poor.
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Wikipedia