Guitarist Otis Redding III who followed father's footsteps into music dies at 59 after battle with cancer
MACON, GEORGIA: Th renowned singer and guitarist, Otis Redding III, who followed in the footsteps of his legendary father into music, has succumbed to cancer at the age of 59, his family revealed on Wednesday, April 19. He was regarded as one of the greatest singers in American pop music and hailed as the "King of Soul."
Otis , the son and namesake of the acclaimed 1960s soul singer, Otis Redding, was just three years old when his father died along with several band members in a tragic plane crash on December 10, 1967. The younger Redding and his brother, Dexter, formed the funk bank The Reddings more than a decade later. The group recorded six albums in the 1980s.
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"It is with heavy hearts that the family of Otis Redding III confirms that he lost his battle with cancer last evening," his sister Karla Redding-Andrews said in a statement shared on the Facebook page of the Otis Redding Foundation, the reputed family's charity in Macon, Georgia.
The Reddings made multiple appearances on the Billboard music charts with singles 'Remote Control' and 'Call The Law'. However, the Redding siblings could never match their father's stellar success. The band recorded its final album in 1988, but Redding III continued playing and performing thereafter. “We never had a gold or platinum record, but we toured the world," he told The Telegraph in 2017.
Otis III continued to record and play music in recent years and was also involved with a number of local charities and nonprofits, including the Historic Macon Foundation and Meals on Wheels. “When we asked him to serve on our board and our Development and Engagement Committee, he readily agreed. But he wasn’t one to simply lend his name to a good cause, then forget about it,” Historic Macon Foundation posted on Facebook.
The statement added, “He donned a green apron and helped out at our Flea Market (and he shopped too!). He attended our membership drives and annual meetings, spreading the word about our preservation mission. And when we needed to go BIG for our 2022 Patrons Party after the pandemic, he and his band delivered. In short, he was always eager to help. That’s the kind of man he was.”
In a 2018 interview with WCSH-TV in Portland, Maine, Otis III recalled how he was once hired for a European tour as guitarist for soul singer Eddie Floyd, under whose guidance he became comfortable performing a number of his famous father's hits, such as, '(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay.' "You can play guitar with me, but you're going to have to sing a few of your dad's songs,'" he told the outlet. Otis III added, "I was like, 'Huh? I don't sing,' you know. And he was like, 'Well, you're going to sing 'Dock of the Bay' with me tonight.'"
The musician worked with his family's foundation to organize summer camps that taught kids to play music and even served as board president for the local chapter of Meals on Wheels. According to his website, he performed his father's songs for all kinds of audiences -- from appearing onstage at Carnegie Hall in 2018 for an Otis Redding tribute concert to singing at small weddings and private parties.
Ottis III explained that despite his father's enduring legacy that largely overshadowed efforts to make his own music, he was grateful for it. "No matter how hard I try to do my own thing, you know, it's like, 'Sing one of your daddy's songs,'" he said. The musician added, "So I go ahead and do what people want, and I live with it. But I'm not under any pressure and I don't put myself mentally under any pressure to go begging for record deals."