Otis Redding star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame has been unveiled honoring the late entertainer Otis Redding, known for such songs as “These Arms Of Mine,” “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,” “Respect” “I Can’t Turn You Loose” and “Try A Little Tenderness.”
The rapper Killer Mike spoke at the Oct. 4 ceremony at 6150 Hollywood Blvd., between Cerrito and Argyle avenues. The star was accepted by Redding’s daughter Karla Redding Andrews.
The star is the 2,791st since the completion of the Walk of Fame in 1961 with the initial 1,558 stars.
The ceremony came two days after the announcement by the production company Fifth Season that it will make a biopic about Redding, starring John Boyega as Redding and Danielle Deadwyler as his wife Zelma.
Born Sept. 9, 1941, in Dawson, Ga., Redding’s family moved to Macon, Ga. when he was 2 years old. He began his career as a singer and musician in the choir of the Vineville Baptist Church. He attended Ballard Hudson High School and participated in the school band.
As a teenager, Redding began to compete in the Douglass Theatre talent shows for the $5 prize. After winning 15 consecutive times, Redding was no longer allowed to compete.
Redding joined Johnny Jenkins and the Pinetoppers in 1958. In 1962 he drove Jenkins to Memphis, Tenn. for a recording session at Stax Records. At the end of the session, Stax co-owner Jim Stewart allowed Otis to cut a couple of songs with the remaining studio time. The result was “These Arms Of Mine,” which would become Redding’s first hit single.
Redding was invited to perform at New York’s Apollo Theatre for a live recording in November 1963 and would go on to showcase his dance movements with “Shake” and “Satisfaction.”
Redding toured throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and the Caribbean and became one of the biggest box-office successes of any touring artist at the time.
A career highlight was performing at Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967 as the closing act of the second night of the three-day festival.
Redding was killed in a plane crash on Dec. 10, 1967 in Madison, Wis. where he was to perform later that day.
In 1969, Redding posthumously won Grammys for best male R&B vocal performance for “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” and best rhythm & blues song for writing `(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” with Steve Cropper.
Redding was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, declaring his name to be “synonymous with the term soul music that arose out of the Black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm and blues into a form of funky, secular testifying.”
Redding’s other honors include being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1994, receiving a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999 and having the U.S. Postal Service issue a commemorative stamp in his honor in 1993.