Rodriguez, subject of ‘Sugar Man’ documentary, dies at 81

Sixto Rodriguez, a Detroit-born musician who became the subject of the Academy Award-winning documentary “Searching for Sugar Man,” has died, according to a message posted Tuesday on his official website. He was 81.

“It is with great sadness that we at Sugarman.org announce that

Sixto Diaz Rodriguez has passed away,” the message reads in part. “We extend our most heartfelt condolences to his daughters — Sandra, Eva and Regan — and to all his family.”

No cause of death was provided, but Rodriguez (inset) had reportedly struggled with undisclosed health issues in recent years.

Born in Detroit to a Mexican father and a Native American mother, Rodriguez was the sixth child of working-class immigrants. He released his first single, “I’ll Slip Away,” in 1967. His only two studio albums — “Cold Fact” and “Coming From Reality” — were released in 1970 and 1971 respectively, but neither achieved any commercial success.

The flops led Rodriguez to give up on his music career. However, unbeknown to him, he had achieved rock star status in South Africa, where his songs protesting racial inequality and social injustice served as inspiration to people opposing South African apartheid.

In the 1990s, two of his Cape Town fans — record store owner Stephen “Sugar” Segerman and journalist Craig Bartholomew Strydom — set out on a mission to find out what had really happened to their music hero.

Their quest to learn the truth was captured by the late Swedish filmmaker Malik Bendjelloul.