Otis Redding

Out of Macon, Georgia came one of the most electrifying voices in American music history. Otis Redding wasn't a band but a singular force, a self-contained phenomenon who essentially defined Southern soul in the 1960s. Signed to Stax Records in Memphis, Redding worked alongside the legendary house band Booker T. and the MGs, whose tight, greasy grooves became the perfect vehicle for his raw, pleading vocal style. That combination produced stone-cold classics like Pain in My Heart, Otis Blue, and Dictionary of Soul, records that hit with the physical force of the best rock and roll.

What made Redding genuinely crossover material for rock fans was his energy and grit. He wasn't polished or pristine — he was urgent, almost violent in his emotional delivery. His legendary 1967 Monterey Pop Festival performance converted an entire generation of rock fans who'd never paid much attention to soul music. Jimi Hendrix famously followed him that same night, and even Hendrix admitted the crowd belonged to Otis. Tragically, Redding died in a plane crash in December 1967 at just 26, days before (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay became his only number one hit. His influence threads through everyone from the Rolling Stones to Springsteen to Jack White.