Adored by his SA fans, Rodriguez, the musician who knows no fame in his home country, is to finally get his music royalties decades after his work became hugely popular here in the 1960s and 1970s.
A relatively unknown musician in America, but catapulted to iconic status in South Africa ‘Sugar Man’ Rodriguez was the subject of the award-winning Searching for Sugar Man, which aired in 2012 and documented how the musician became famous locally, as well as in New Zealand and Australia, yet earned nothing from his hits.
It also showed how the artist was oblivious to the impact he had had upon a generation of music lovers in SA. The documentary won an Oscar and a Bafta award for Stephen “Sugar” Segerman and Craig Bartholomew Strydom, who went on the hunt to find Rodriguez and in the late 1990s, found him working in the construction business and living a simple life in Detroit, Michigan.
Gqeberha fans will remember Rodriguez getting the red carpet treatment when he performed to a packed house on the 3rd of February 2016 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
Thanks to the documentary Rodriguez finally got the recognition he deserved but no royalties until a lawsuit was filed in a US court and a settlement was agreed on as reported in Mirror UK.
Rodriguez will be paid out, just in time for his 80th birthday on the 10th of July.
If you are a fan, I'm sure you will be smiling along with me at this great news - time to put your feet up Rodriguez.
And if you have not yet seen the documentary take a look at the trailer right here, you can buy or rent it from Amazon.
