Singer and guitarist Otis Redding III, the son and namesake of the legendary Nineteen Sixties soul singer, has died from most cancers at age 59, his household mentioned Wednesday.
Redding was simply 3 years previous when his father, Otis Redding, perished together with a number of band members in a aircraft crash on Dec. 10, 1967. Greater than a decade later, the youthful Redding and his brother, Dexter, shaped the funk band The Reddings, which recorded six albums within the Nineteen Eighties.
“It’s with heavy hearts that the household of Otis Redding III confirms that he misplaced his battle with most cancers final night,” mentioned his sister, Karla Redding-Andrews, in a press release posted on the Fb web page of the Otis Redding Basis, the household’s charity in Macon.
The Reddings had a prime 10 hit on Billboard‘s Sizzling Soul Singles chart in 1980 with “Distant Management.” A subsequent single, “Name the Regulation,” made the highest 20 on that chart in 1988 (when it was known as Sizzling Black Singles). “Distant Management” crossed over to hit the Billboard Sizzling 100, as did a 1982 rendition of their father’s immortal “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay.” Redding continued enjoying and performing after the band recorded its closing album in 1988.
He was as soon as employed for a European tour as guitarist for soul singer Eddie Floyd, beneath whose steering the youthful Redding turned comfy performing “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay” and different songs of his well-known father.
“He mentioned, `You possibly can play guitar with me, however you’re going to need to sing a number of of your dad’s songs,‘” Redding recalled in a 2018 interview with WCSH-TV in Portland, Maine. “I used to be like, `Huh? I don’t sing,’ you recognize. And he was like, `Nicely, you’re going to sing “Dock of the Bay” with me tonight.’”
Redding labored along with his household’s basis to arrange summer time camps that educate kids to play music, and served as board president for the native chapter of Meals on Wheels.
He continued to carry out his father’s songs for audiences massive and small, based on his web site, from showing onstage at Carnegie Corridor for a 2018 Otis Redding tribute live performance to singing at weddings and personal events. Redding mentioned he was grateful for the enduring legacy even when it overshadowed efforts to make music of his personal.
“Regardless of how onerous I attempt to do my very own factor, you recognize, it’s like … ‘sing one in every of your daddy’s songs,’” he informed the Maine TV station. “So I’m going forward and do what individuals need, and I dwell with it. However I’m not beneath any strain and I don’t put myself mentally beneath any strain to go begging for file offers.”
