Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger, and talent scout. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. Redding's style of singing gained inspiration from the gospel music that preceded the genre. His singing style influenced many other soul artists of the 1960s.
Redding was born in the small town of Dawson, Georgia. At the
At age 18, Redding met 15-year-old Zelma Atwood. She gave birth to their son Dexter in the summer of 1960 and married Redding in August 1961. The story of Redding’s breakthrough is part of soul music mythology.
In 1960 Redding joined Johnny Jenkins’s Pinetoppers, a local Georgia band, and also served as the group’s driver. When the group travelled to Memphis, Tennessee, to record at the famed Stax studios, Redding sang two songs of his own at the end of the session. One of the two, “These Arms of Mine” (1962), launched his career, attracting both a record label executive (Jim Stewart) and a manager (Phil Walden) who passionately believed in his talent.
Redding’s open-throated singing became the measure of the decade’s great soul artists. Unabashedly emotional, he sang with overwhelming power and irresistible sincerity. “Otis wore his heart on his sleeve,” said Jerry Wexler, whose Atlantic label handled Stax’s distribution, thus bringing Redding to a national market.
The hits came fast and furiously—“I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (to Stop Now)” (1965), “Respect” (1965), “Satisfaction” (1966), “Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)” (1966). Otis Redding’s influence extended beyond his gritty vocals. As a composer,
The rapport between Redding and his rhythm section—Cropper on guitar, Donald (“Duck”) Dunn on bass, Al Jackson on drums, and Booker T. Jones on keyboards (known collectively as Booker T. and the MG’s)—was extraordinary. Redding proved to be an adept duet partner as well; his hits with label mate Carla Thomas (“Tramp” and “Knock on Wood,” 1967) added to his romantic aura. Later that year, Redding played at the massively influential Monterey Pop Festival, which helped him to break into the white pop music scene.
When the Stax/Volt Revue stormed Europe, Redding led the brigade and was just entering a new phase of popularity when tragedy struck. On December 10, 1967, Redding and most of his backing band, The Bar-Kays were killed when their chartered plane crashed into a Wisconsin lake. Redding was 26 years old. The two remaining members of The Bar-Kays were Ben Cauley and James Alexander. Cauley was the only person aboard Redding's plane to survive the crash; Alexander was on another plane. 
Cauley reported that he had been asleep until just seconds before impact, and recalled that upon waking he saw bandmate Phalon Jones look out a window and say, "Oh, no!" Cauley said that he then unbuckled his seat belt, and that was his final recollection before finding himself in the frigid waters of the lake, grasping a seat cushion to keep himself afloat. Redding's body was recovered the next day when the lake was searched. The cause of the crash was never precisely determined.
Ironically, the across-the-board success Redding had sought was
(Edited from Wikipedia & mainly article by David Ritz)