This year’s BMI Trailblazers of Gospel Music Awards ceremony granted soul singer-songwriter Otis Redding four BMI Million-Air awards, which were accepted by his daughter Karla Redding-Andrews on his behalf.
Million-Air awards are given to songwriters whose compositions have been played on the radio more than 1 million times. Redding was honored for four songs that met this criteria: “Sweet Soul Music” with 4 million plays, “Hard to Handle” with 7 million plays, “Respect” with 7 million plays, and “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay” with 12 million plays.
The ceremony was held on March 30 in Atlanta, Georgia.
“Dock of the Bay” was also BMI’s song of the year in 1968.
Redding was a Macon native and a famous singer-songwriter who composed and released all of the songs he was awarded for last week in the 1960s. He passed away in 1967 at just 26 years old when the plane transporting him and members of his band, the Bar-Kays, crashed into Lake Monona. The group was on its way to a concert in Madison, Wisconsin.
Redding was survived by his wife, Zelma Atwood, and their four children Otis Redding III, Karla Redding, Dexter Redding, and Demetria Redding.
Karla Redding-Andrews is the vice president and executive director of the Otis Redding Foundation, which has been in partnership with BMI for 60 years. While accepting this year’s Million-Air awards for her father, Redding-Andrews thanked her mother.
“My mom has protected this legacy for over 50 years and behind every good man there’s an even more powerful woman,” Redding-Andrews said at the event. “Thank you, BMI, for this wonderful partnership that will continue for years to come...”
The Otis Redding Foundation was established in 2007 by Zelma Redding and provides workshops, music education, private and group music lessons, and public performances.
The new Otis Redding Center for the Arts, which is being built in downtown Macon, is expected to open in 2024. This 15,000 square foot center will offer classroom and studio space for students in addition to an outdoor amphitheater.
This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with The Telegraph.
