Otis Ray Redding was an American soul singer-songwriter and record producer.
Although he was not very successful among white audiences in the United States, the opposite was true in Europe. His performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 was one of his last big concerts until his death in a plane crash at the age of 26. One month later, "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" was released, which sold about 4 million copies worldwide and would be his biggest hit. Redding is seen to be one of the major figures in soul/R&B and this eventually resulted in the honorific nickname "King of Soul".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otis_redding
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otis_redding