He was grateful for Otis Redding’s enduring legacy, he said, even if it overshadowed his efforts to make music of his own.
Otis Redding III, the son and namesake of the celebrated 1960s soul singer, who made a name for himself as a singer and guitarist, died on Tuesday in Macon, Ga. He was 59.
The cause was cancer, his sister, Karla Redding-Andrews, said in a statement posted on the Facebook page of the Otis Redding Foundation, the family’s charity.
Mr. Redding was just 3 years old when his father died, along with several members of his band, in a plane crash on Dec. 10, 1967, outside Madison, Wis. Otis Redding III and his brother, Dexter, along with a cousin, Mark Lockett, went on to form the funk band the Reddings, which recorded six albums in the 1980s. Otis was a guitarist with the group; Dexter, who survives him, played bass and handled the vocals; and Mr. Lockett played keyboards.
The band had some success on the Billboard charts: “Remote Control” reached No. 6 on the Hot Soul Singles chart and No. 89 on the Hot 100 in 1980. The group’s final album, called simply “The Reddings,” which contained the hit single “Call the Law,” reached No. 88 on the Billboard album chart in 1988.
The Redding brothers never came close to matching their father’s success, but Otis Redding III nonetheless continued performing. When the soul singer Eddie Floyd hired him as guitarist for a European tour, Mr. Redding became comfortable singing “(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay” and other songs made famous by his father, he told WCSH-TV in Portland, Maine, in 2018.
“He said, ‘You can play guitar with me, but you’re going to have to sing a few of your dad’s songs,’” Mr. Redding recalled Mr. Floyd saying. “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.’” He continued to perform his father’s songs live.
He said he was grateful for his father’s enduring legacy even if it overshadowed his own music-making efforts.
“I go ahead and do what people want, and I live with it,” he said, adding, “I don’t put myself mentally under any pressure to go begging for record deals.”
Otis Redding III was born on Dec. 17, 1963, in Macon. His mother was Zelma Atwood.
In later years he worked with his family’s foundation to organize summer camps that teach children to play music. He also served as board president of the local chapter of Meals on Wheels.
In addition to his sister Ms. Redding-Andrews and his brother, Mr. Redding’s survivors include another sister, Demetria Redding.
The New York Times contributed reporting.
Source: Music - nytimes.com
