Cold Fact  by Rodríguez

The story and journey of Sixto Diaz Rodríguez, or Rodríguez, from Detroit is probably unique in the magical world of pop & rock music. Between August and September 1969, Rodríguez recorded his first album titled Cold Fact and released it in March 1970 with Sussex Records. It is an album that follows the then-dominant musical trend of folk rock with many elements of psychedelic rock.

Cold Fact went completely unnoticed in the USA. At some point in 1976, thousands of copies of the record were found abandoned in a New York warehouse, which were sold in Australia, and the album achieved unexpected success there, reaching No. 23 in Australia in 1978 and spending fifty-five weeks on the country's chart.

Rodríguez recorded a second album in 1971 that did not achieve success. Therefore, Sussex Records terminated the contract with him. However, his career began to take off in South Africa with both his albums without him having the slightest idea, as he withdrew disappointed from the world of the music industry. His success in South Africa had skyrocketed to the point that it was rumored in the USA that he had died and that he was more significant than Elvis Presley. The financial benefits from the thousands of copies being sold in the African country were being collected by a group of opportunists, while he continued to live in poverty and struggle for survival in Detroit (!). After 1990, the fraud was exposed, and Rodríguez gave a series of concerts in South Africa, where he was welcomed as a superstar (!)