Singer-songwriter Sixto Rodriguez has passed away at the age of 81.

Sixto Rodriguez, the Detroit musician who unknowingly found massive success in South Africa and became the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary Searching For Sugar Man, has died. “It is with great sadness that we at Sugarman.org announce that Sixto Diaz Rodriguez has passed away earlier today,” his website’s Twitter account posted this morning. “We extend our most heartfelt condolences to his daughters – Sandra, Eva and Regan – and to all his family.” No cause of death was provided. Rodriguez was 81.

His first two studio albums Cold Fact and Coming From Reality went relatively unnoticed in America, but he found huge success overseas. In South Africa, he is believed to have sold more records than Elvis Presley.