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SIX years ago a documentary was made about tracking down a rock star who didn’t know he was one.

Sixto Rodriguez made two superb protest albums thought to be the equal of Bob Dylan and Cat Stevens.

But they bombed in Detroit and the US... nobody had heard of him.

Searching For Sugar Man, named after a track, found him in Detroit, unaware his albums sold millions in apartheidstricken South Africa.

He drinks in a microbrewery bar at the Motor City Brewing Works and for years helped restore derelict houses and buildings in the city the world forgot.

But like Sixto, The D is now being rediscovered. Just four years ago it was declared bankrupt and blocks of property were sold for $50,000.

But now, thanks to two local billionaires’ investments, downtown Detroit is buzzing again.

Unwanted office blocks are being turned into condos and new restaurants, clubs and pubs are opening every week.

A new tramline, opened last year, complements the overhead People Mover transit. Yes the Motor City is motoring once again. I stayed in the once-derelict art deco Wurlitzer building, restored as a boutique hotel, aptly called The Siren.

It’s on Broadway Street, ideally placed for the Opera House and Fox Theatre and the four major sports venues.

Budget Icelandic airline Wow is now flying there from Stansted via Reykjavik, four times a week.

They are confident travellers will want to visit the birthplace of Motown, techno and the city which gave us the first mass produced Ford Model T.

Detroit is also rapper Eminem’s home city.

The Shelter venue helped launch his career and the city features in his 2002 movie 8 Mile.

The city’s industry and its fabulous music are inextricably bound.

Motown boss Berry Gordy worked on a car production line and dreamed up hits about the industry, like Jackie Wilson’s Reet Petite.

Smokey Robinson told him he’d never make money just writing so he