Time Magazine interview

This is from the "10 Questions" page of Time's January 28, 2013 issue.

Detroit singer Sixto Rodriguez on finding out his songs have been huge hits for decades -- on another continent.

You released two albums in the '70s, Cold Fact and Coming from Reality, that didn't take off in the US. Then 25 years later, you discovered you were as big in South Africa as Bob Dylan and the Beatles. How did you find out?

A person by the name of Steven Segerman -- Sugar, as he likes to be called -- came over to my house in Detroit from South Africa. He showed me the CDs and told me about this fan base in South Africa.

The people in that country believed you were dead, that you'd committed suicide onstage. Why?

I don't have any idea. Maybe someone said, He burned out, he went up in smoke. I think that's the kind of distortion that happened.

So you'd been making music your whole life, supporting yourself by doing demolition, and suddenly in your 50s, somebody goes to you and says you have millions of fans in another country. What was that like?

I didn't believe it until it was something I saw it in '98 [when I toured in South Africa]. The first day the tickets went on sale, 11,000 tickets sold. These 5,000-seaters were all sold out. And audiences knew the lyrics and sang with me throughout the concert. That was pretty amazing. There is an element of magic in this whole thing.

Why do you think your music was never that popular in the US?

At that time, there were a lot of people releasing records. Carole King with Tapestry. Elton John released his first record in '71. Fleetwood Mac came out with Rumours. So there was a lot of competition. I toured Australia, but that was it.

Have you wondered, Why South Africa?

They had conscription there, and here in the States the youngbloods were burning their draft cards, going to Canada, so the same kind of social pressures and government repression.

You ran for mayor of Detroit. Why?

I've been a candidate for office at least eight times. A couple of times for mayor, state representative, city council. Tryng to get my issues out to the public -- the violence in the city, the police brutality.

So which one would you rather be? Mayor or musician?

I am a musical-political. It's hard to separate the two for me.

Your records went platinum in South Africa, with "Sugar Man" and other songs becoming megahits. Why didn't you get any royalties?

I think down the road that will happen. I don't have the wherewithal at this point to look into it, but I would go to [record company executives] with a legal team now. I would go with an international lawyer, an entertainment lawyer and one that knows how to do the courts. It's kind of involved, you know?

Searching for Sugar Man, the documentary about you, was just nominated for an Oscar. You have a new CD, and you're touring. Are you enjoying the fame?

I met Alec Baldwin and I told him, "You're a famous man," and he said, "That's a double-edged sword," and I kind of agree with that. I hope I can handle it. You know people want to say hello and stuff. But I'm a musician, see? The thing is, I communicate.

I'm guessing you don't do demolition any more.

I was doing demolition yesterday. I'm renovating my home.

You're doing you're own demolition? At 70?

I live below my means. I think that's a good discipline because you never can tell. I'm not an ascetic. I just think that's wiser.

--Belinda Luscombe


You must be the change you seek in the world. -- Gandhi