U.S. singer Rodriguez is to play Coachella and Glastonbury this year after emerging from obscurity with the documentary Searching for Sugar Man. (sugarman.org)

Rodriguez, the U.S. singer-songwriter who emerged from obscurity after the creation of Oscar-nominated documentary Searching For Sugar Man, will play this year's Glastonbury Festival in the U.K. and Coachella in the U.S.

Concerts at two of the world’s biggest music festivals are a step back into the spotlight for the 70-year-old musician, who has seen his star rise since the documentary about him hit cinemas.

Rodriguez had some success as a folk singer in the U.S. in the 1970s, recording two albums that were considered flops. But a bootleg tape of his music was released in South Africa and his protest-tinged lyrics spoke to a generation struggling to get out from under apartheid.

Swedish director Malik Bendjelloul’s Searching for Sugar Man began his documentary by studying that popularity and then wondered what had happened to the musician, who many believed to be dead.

Bendjelloul follows the search for Rodriguez and discovers him in Detroit, where he’d worked construction and other odd jobs for nearly 40 years. The documentary chronicles his first concert in South Africa.

Searching For Sugar Man has been nominated for best documentary at the Academy Awards and Britain's BAFTAs and won audience awards at both the Sundance and Los Angeles film festivals last year.

Rodriguez confirmed his appearances with Coachella and Glastonbury with the Hollywood Reporter.

He will play three concerts in New Zealand and a string of dates in South Africa in the next two months and recently appeared on The Tonight Show.

April's Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival, held in Indio, Calif., and U.K.'s Glastonbury Festival, which takes place June 26-30 near Pilton, Somerset, attract over 100,000 people each year.