After decades of obscurity, Rodriguez in the limelight

While the Michigan native moved on, making a meager living as a construction worker and day laborer, bootleg copies of his recordings found an audience in apartheid-era South Africa, where Rodriguez became more popular than Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones.



Since the film was released and nominated for an Academy Award, he’s played venues such as New York’s Carnegie Hall, London’s Royal Albert Hall and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.