page_title: Sixto Rodriguez
section_title: Early life
hierarchical_section_title: Sixto Rodriguez / Biography / Early life
caption_attribution_description: English: Sixto Rodriguez at Way Out West 2013 in Gothenburg, Sweden
context_page_description: Sixto Diaz Rodriguez, known professionally as Rodriguez, is an American singer-songwriter from Detroit, Michigan. His music career initially proved disappointing in the United States, but unknown to Rodriguez his albums became extremely successful and influential in South Africa, where he is believed to have sold more records than Elvis Presley. His work also found a following in some other countries in Africa, and also in Australia and New Zealand. Because information about him was scarce, it was incorrectly rumored there that he had committed suicide shortly after releasing his second 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, in Detroit.
  Rodriguez has been living in Detroit's historic Woodbridge neighborhood, through which he is seen walking in Searching for Sugar Man.
context_section_description: Rodriguez was born in 1942 in Detroit, Michigan. He was the sixth child of Mexican immigrant working-class parents. He was named Sixto (pronounced "Seex-toh") 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.
  Rodriguez earned a Bachelor of Philosophy from Wayne State University's Monteith College in 1981.
caption: Sixto Rodriguez at Way Out West in Gothenburg, Sweden 2013
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