A love story is developing between the French and Rodriguez, the Detroit-born musician who flopped in the 1970s, was a star without knowing it in apartheid South Africa and was rediscovered last summer in the United States when the documentary “Searching for Sugar Man” was released.
The film tells the extraordinary story of a talented and philosophical musician who spent his life working in construction while struggling to bring up his three daughters, and the mind-boggling mutual discoveries in 1997: for him, that he was more famous than the Rolling Stones in South Africa, and for South African fans (who believed him to be dead), that he was alive.
The Swedish-British film by Malik Bendjelloul which has made more than $3 million at the box office in the United States, has been nominated for an Academy Award in the documentary category. In France the now-70-year-old Rodriguez has created something of a frenzy: The soundtrack album is among Sony France’s top sales on iTunes. Sony had planned on putting fewer than 3,000 CDs in stores, but after calls from vendors who sensed something was up, made 15,000 copies available.
“It is an honor and a pleasure,” said Rodriguez in an e-mail message last week from Detroit about his popularity in France. “I’ve been to France a couple of times now. It feels like I’m on top of the world.”
The French public has had a tradition of adopting American artists that it considers underappreciated in the United States, from Josephine Baker to Woody Allen, from Paul Auster to Ben Harper. Le Figaro newspaper recently dubbed Rodriguez the “unloved” singer.
David Nivesse, from ARP Selection, the film’s French distributor, and Christophe Servel Molvaer, project manager for Sony Music Legacy, France, say that it all started last November when Rodriguez came to Paris for a private concert following a preview of the documentary.
“He played for half an hour and you could hear a pin drop. There were 600 people in the room and he got a standing ovation,” Mr. Servel Molvaer recalled. “I had never heard of him before. But from the beginning I was captivated by this soul-folk. It’s something magical, and people love his music from the moment they hear it.”
“Music is a language all it’s own,” wrote Rodriguez. “I’ve been playing ‘La Vie En Rose’ a lot lately when I’m looking for sounds. It’s the notes and the rhythms — that is what speaks to me. I’m a music lover. I do vocal against guitar. Sometimes it’s like any words will work. A lot of songs out there have fewer words than guttural sounds like oohs and ahhs and grunts. That works for some people too. I’m glad the French like my stuff. It’s had a long life and I feel lucky for that.”
“Searching for Sugar Man” was released Dec. 26 in just two Paris cinemas. It has beaten all records at the Left Bank Saint Germain movie theater where it is playing. It is now playing in other cities in France including Bordeaux, Rennes and Nancy.
“We thought the film would do well but this is exceptional,” Mr. Nivesse said.
Rodriguez is playing concerts around the world now. One gig was scheduled for this June at La Cigale, a major Paris venue. It sold out within 72 hours. Another concert was added at the Zenith (capacity 6,500). He is also expected to play at the major French summer music festivals.
“I’ve been working 25 years in the business and never met anyone like this, with so much charisma, even though he doesn’t say much,” said Mr. Servel Molvaer.
