...as Rodriguez came to represent - at least to those few who knew him - yet another music industry parable of unrealized promise and overlooked talent.
Yet halfway around the world, he had become a folk hero and music superstar, at least as popular as the Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley.
His records were embraced by young listeners in South Africa, including anti-apartheid activists who sang along to rebellious lyrics like "The pig and hose have set me free / I've tasted hate street's hanging tree" and "This system's gonna fall soon / To an angry young tune."
"Every revolution needs an anthem," recalled Craig Bartholomew Strydom, a South African music journalist, in a 2012 interview with the Economist. "Cold Fact' was South Africa's."
Rodriguez's popularity was only amplified by the mystery surrounding his short-lived recording career.
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