The singer – whose career was resurrected by the 2012 Oscar-winning Searching for Sugar Mandocumentary – passed away just a few weeks after his birthday. Rodriguez had been recovering from surgery to repair damage from a stroke he suffered in February.
His passing was confirmed on his website on August 9 in a statement that said: “It is with great sadness that we at Sugarman.org announce that Sixto Diaz Rodriguez passed away earlier today.
“We extend our most heartfelt condolences to his daughters – Sandra, Eva and Regan – and to all his family. May His Dear Soul Rest In Peace.”
His daughter Regan said alongside a photo of her dad performing on stage: “Love and music. Thank you for everything.”
Sixto – known as Rodriguez – shot to global fame after documentary makers tracked him down when he was in his 70s. The musician had “vanished” following the release of two albums recorded in his native Detroit in the early 1970s.
At the time, the I Wonder singer was given a record deal with the Sussex label, founded by former Motown Records chairman Clarence Avant.
Prior to the film coming out, his daughter Eva had discovered websites dedicated to him in South Africa in 1997. The sites claimed various shocking stories about the musician, ranging from a tale of him shooting himself onstage to being killed by a drug overdose.
The star was eventually tracked down to Detroit where he was bussing tables.
After the release of the film, which won the Oscar for best documentary feature at the 85th Academy Awards ceremony in 2013, Rodriguez toured South Africa and enjoyed a career renaissance.
The Searching for Sugar Man documentary was finished on an iPhone when it ran into financial difficulties, and followed two South Africans who set out to discover what happened to the singer as he had a huge fan base in the country.
Searching for Sugar Man tells the story of Sixto Rodriguez. Photo / Supplied
Both Rodriguez’s studio albums – 1970′s Cold Fact and Coming from Reality, released the following year – entered the US charts in the wake of the film’s release.
Rodriguez told the Detroit News: “It’s been a great odyssey. All those years, you know, I always considered myself a musician. But, reality happened.”
Despite Searching for Sugar Man reviving Rodriguez’s career, its maker Malik Bendejelloul took his life by throwing himself in front of a train in Stockholm in May 2014 aged 36.
