Singer-songwriter Sixto Rodriguez, who turned the topic of the Oscar-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man, has died aged 81.

The American singer's loss of life was confirmed by his granddaughter Amanda Kennedy on Wednesday after being posted to the web site Sugarman.org a day earlier.

He died in Detroit following a brief sickness, in keeping with his spouse, Konny Rodriguez, 72.

It was the documentary Searching for Sugar Man by Swedish filmmaker Malik Bendjelloul that made Rodriguez recognisable to a a lot bigger viewers.

The movie tells of two South Africans and their mission to hunt out the destiny of their musical hero.

It gained the Oscar for greatest documentary in 2013.

'More common than Elvis'

Despite his music not making a lot of a mark in America, Rodriguez unknowingly turned a star in South Africa.

He was described as "more popular than Elvis" within the nation, by report store proprietor Stephen 'Sugar' Segerman, whose nickname comes from Rodriguez's tune Sugarman.

His songs protesting the Vietnam War, racial inequality and the abuse of ladies have been banned by the apartheid regime, however impressed liberals horrified by the nation's racial segregation system.

Fans in South Africa believed his fame transferred to the US. Some even thought the star had died, after rumours circulated he had taken his personal life on stage.

In actuality, the singer had returned to Detroit, the place he had gone "back to work" in guide labour.

He had three daughters and launched a number of unsuccessful campaigns for public workplace, however by no means stopped taking part in music.

It wasn't till the Nineteen Eighties that Rodriguez realized about his fame in South Africa, and after the top of apartheid in 1990 the star travelled to the nation to carry out and later pursued royalties he didn't obtain from his music getting used and performed there.

"He did so well in South Africa. It was insane," Mrs Rodriguez mentioned.

His music was additionally a giant hit in Australia, the place he toured in each 1979 and 1981, after selecting up the cellphone to a "man with an Australian accent" who mentioned: "He must come to Australia because he's very famous here."

Rodriguez was additionally described as "the greatest protest singer and songwriter that most people never heard of" in 2013 by The Associated Press.