Footage from those concerts shows auditoriums crammed with thousands of fans waving their arms in the air, roaring Rodriguez's name.
But just as the artist accepted his poverty with aplomb, so too he seems unfazed by his newfound success. He treats the stage as his natural habitat. Without fanfare, he walks out, adjusts his microphone and begins to strum his guitar, as though he'd never been away.
If you go
The singer-songwriter Sixto Rodriguez performs at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Sixth and I Historic Synagogue, 600 I St. N.W., Washington. Tickets are $25 and can be bought by calling 800-745-3000 or at the box office. For details, go to http://www.sixthandi.org.
Getting an earful
Want to hear the music behind the man? Check out the movie soundtrack, or Rodriguez's two albums, which have been reissued by Light in the Attic Records. More information can be found on the artist's official fan site, sugarman.org:
• "Cold Fact," originally released March 1970 by Sussex Records.
• "Coming from Reality," originally released in November 1971 by Sussex Records.
• "Searching for Sugar Man (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)," July 2012, Sony Legacy Recordings.
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