Searching for Sugarman:
What an inspirational story! Most South Africans know of Rodriguez. His record ‘Cold Fact’ was a soundtrack to South African youth from the 70’s to present day. I remember when I moved to London in 2002, having left my music behind in South Africa I went in search of his CD. It was nowhere to be found and no-one I spoke to knew who I was talking about. It seemed he was a South African icon with little recognition elsewhere in the world. I’m sure you've heard his story by now. To sum up:
Rodriguez is a folk singer who made a couple of albums in the ‘70’s. Although his albums received excellent reviews they did not sell in America, or anywhere else in fact. That is until a bootleg copy made its way to apartheid South Africa. Here the anti-establishment message of his songs was like a tonic to the state controlled propaganda we being subdued with. Almost every teenager for the next 20 years had a copy of Cold Fact and could recite his songs word for word. Meanwhile, he was living a life of obscurity and poverty in Detroit.
What is inspirational about his story is that, when he was rediscovered he became a hugely successful artist overnight , he did not let the fame or the fortune change him. He is unphased by the wealth, by the fame; in fact he has given most of his money away to family and friends. He just loves to sing. He is now living his passion and singing to audiences all around the world.
When I saw the documentary ‘Searching for Sugarman’ I cried. It resonated with me that if you are doing something with your gift, it doesn’t matter who approves (or disapproves) of you, it doesn’t matter how much worldly success you have, you will be happy.
You won’t need approval from the rest of the world. You won’t need validation through money. Doing what you love brings you happiness. WOW. What an awesome place to be.
To check out his story watch the Oscar winning documentary ‘Searching for Sugarman’.
What an inspirational story! Most South Africans know of Rodriguez. His record ‘Cold Fact’ was a soundtrack to South African youth from the 70’s to present day. I remember when I moved to London in 2002, having left my music behind in South Africa I went in search of his CD. It was nowhere to be found and no-one I spoke to knew who I was talking about. It seemed he was a South African icon with little recognition elsewhere in the world. I’m sure you've heard his story by now. To sum up:
Rodriguez is a folk singer who made a couple of albums in the ‘70’s. Although his albums received excellent reviews they did not sell in America, or anywhere else in fact. That is until a bootleg copy made its way to apartheid South Africa. Here the anti-establishment message of his songs was like a tonic to the state controlled propaganda we being subdued with. Almost every teenager for the next 20 years had a copy of Cold Fact and could recite his songs word for word. Meanwhile, he was living a life of obscurity and poverty in Detroit.
What is inspirational about his story is that, when he was rediscovered he became a hugely successful artist overnight , he did not let the fame or the fortune change him. He is unphased by the wealth, by the fame; in fact he has given most of his money away to family and friends. He just loves to sing. He is now living his passion and singing to audiences all around the world.
When I saw the documentary ‘Searching for Sugarman’ I cried. It resonated with me that if you are doing something with your gift, it doesn’t matter who approves (or disapproves) of you, it doesn’t matter how much worldly success you have, you will be happy.
You won’t need approval from the rest of the world. You won’t need validation through money. Doing what you love brings you happiness. WOW. What an awesome place to be.
To check out his story watch the Oscar winning documentary ‘Searching for Sugarman’.
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