Otis Redding III, who adopted father into music, dies at 59

MACON, Ga. — Singer and guitarist Otis Redding III, the son and namesake of the legendary Sixties soul singer, has died from most cancers at age 59, his household stated Wednesday.

Redding was simply 3 years previous when his father, Otis Redding, perished together with a number of band members in a airplane crash on Dec. 10, 1967. Greater than a decade later, the youthful Redding and his brother, Dexter, fashioned 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,” stated his sister, Karla Redding-Andrews, in an announcement posted on the Fb web page of the Otis Redding Basis, the household’s charity in Macon.

Although singles “Distant Management” and “Name The Legislation” by The Reddings made appearances on the Billboard music charts, the Redding brothers by no means matched their father’s success. Redding continued taking part in and performing after the band recorded its last album in 1988.

He was as soon as employed for a European tour as guitarist for soul singer Eddie Floyd, below whose steering the youthful Redding turned snug performing “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay” and different songs of his well-known father.

“He stated, `You possibly can play guitar with me, however you’re going to need to sing a couple 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,’ . And he was like, `Effectively, you’re going to sing ”Dock of the Bay” with me tonight.’”

Redding labored along with his household’s basis to prepare summer season camps that train 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 reside, saying he was grateful for the enduring legacy even when it overshadowed his efforts to make music of his personal.

“Irrespective of how laborious I attempt to do my very own factor, , it’s like … sing one in every of your daddy’s songs,” he advised the Maine TV station. “So I am going forward and do what folks need, and I reside with it. However I’m not below any stress and I don’t put myself mentally below any stress to go begging for document offers.”