Sixto Rodriguez was an aspiring musician in the late ’60s. After little success, he retired from music and worked as a day laborer in Detroit, Michigan. While Rodriguez spent his days doing odd jobs, his music made waves overseas. This is the story of Sixto Rodriguez, the rock icon that sold more records than Elvis Presley in South Africa. The only problem? He had no idea.
Who Was Sixto Rogriguez
In the late 1960s, young Sixto Rodriguez began a short-lived music career. After playing a few shows at local Detroit bars, he received his big break. He signed a record deal with a small recording company in Detroit. A couple of years later, he signed with a more prominent label Sussex Records. He put out two full-length albums that had little impact in the US Sixto called it quits on his music career in 1976.
Rodriguez Overseas
At the end of his music career, Sixto Rodriguez bought a house at a government auction and began as a day laborer. He spent years working odd jobs around Detroit. Meanwhile, his records hit Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. They flew off the shelves in these three countries. In Australia, his albums went platinum, and in South Africa, local music experts say he sold more records than Elvis. He became larger than life. But he had no idea.
The way this happened is because his record label shut down just a year after he retired from music. When the overseas record labels saw the interest in their home countries, they quickly purchased the rights to the albums from Sussex’s parent company and started selling the records. However, no one bothered to tell Sixto about the album sales. Furthermore, in the case of South Africa, the record company had fabricated a lie that he died. They used this lie to move the money so Rodriguez would never receive a dime of it.
On Tour In South Africa
A group of South African radio hosts did not believe the popular story that Rodriguez was dead. So the group worked together to track down Sixto and ended up on a phone call with him. They arranged a six-stop tour across South Africa in 1997. He headlined an arena tour that was sold out at every stop. He stayed in the presidential suite at every hotel along the tour, traveled with a security detail, and was flown in private jets. Then he just returned to his small Detroit house and went back to working day labor. Every couple of years, he goes back and tours South Africa.
A documentary was released in 2012 called Searching for Sugar Man made Rodriguez, a more significant success in the US and internationally. Today he continues to tour internationally and in the US. For years Sixto was not interested in getting in the legal battle for the money kept from him in South Africa. However, recently he began legal action to win his funds. That case is still outstanding.
Conclusion
Sixto Rodriguez is the most successful musician to never know about his success. It’s unbelievable to think of Rodriguez selling out an arena tour and then returning to Detroit to mow lawns and do demo work. He never took the time to pursue the success he had in South Africa because, according to him, “Real life is better.” Sixto Rodriguez can teach us all a thing or two about contentment.
Things I Learned Last Night is an educational comedy podcast where best friends Jaron Myers and Tim Stone talk about random topics and have fun all along the way. If you like learning, and laughing a whole lot while you do, then you’ll love TILLN. Watch or listen to this episode right now!
Sources
Related Episodes
Dave Matthews Band Chicago River Incident
Tell Us What You Think of This Content!
Don’t forget to share with your friends!