September 9

When the hit song, “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” went to number one on the charts in 1968, the artist who wrote and sang it had been dead for four months.

Otis Redding became one of the most influential and popular soul musicians of all time. He was born in Dawson. When his family moved to Macon, his musical destiny was set.

He was influenced by hometown hero Little Richard and Sam Cooke. Redding recorded his first single, “These Arms of Mine,” in 1963. Bigger hits followed, like “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,” while Aretha Franklin’s cover of Redding’s song “Respect” became a major pop hit.

Redding’s career was on the rise when he died tragically in a plane crash in December 1967, on his way to a concert in Madison, Wisconsin. Thousands attended his funeral in Macon.

He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. The man called the “King of the Soul Singers” was born on September 9, 1941, Today in Georgia History.