how did otis redding die

Otis Redding died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967, when his small chartered aircraft went down in a lake near Madison, Wisconsin, killing him at age 26.

What happened

• Redding was traveling to a scheduled concert in Madison, Wisconsin, aboard a twin‑engine Beechcraft plane with members of his backing band, the Bar‑Kays.

• In rainy, foggy winter weather, the plane crashed into the icy waters of Lake Monona near Madison, and Redding and most of the people on board were killed on impact.

• Trumpet player Ben Cauley was the only survivor; he managed to escape the wreckage and cling to debris in the lake until rescuers arrived.

Aftermath and legacy

• Redding’s death came just days after he finished recording “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” which was released posthumously and became a No. 1 hit the following year.

• The crash has since been remembered as one of the most tragic losses in soul and popular music, cutting short a career that was rapidly crossing over to mainstream audiences after his breakthrough performances earlier in 1967.

TL;DR: Otis Redding died when his chartered plane crashed into Lake Monona near Madison, Wisconsin, on December 10, 1967, while he was en route to a concert, killing him at 26.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.