Tribute held in Macon for late Georgia recording artist Otis Redding

September 8th, 2022

Recording star Otis Redding of Macon, Ga., shown Dec. 10, 1967. (AP Photo)

The Otis Redding Foundation will celebrate Otis Redding’s legacy on what would have been the Georgia-born singer’s 81^stbirthday.

The events set to take place September 9 and 10 will bring world-renowned musicians to Redding’s hometown of Macon, and serve as a major fundraiser to benefit the future Otis Redding Center for the Arts.

The center is meant to support the Otis Redding Foundation’s mission to empower, enrich, and motivate youth through education programs involving music, writing, and instrumentation.

“Our family is elated to celebrate my dad’s legacy in person for the first time since the pandemic. We are happy to bring the weekend-long celebration back to Macon and thank the countless patrons who have supported the Otis Redding Foundation since my mother established it in 2007,” said Karla Redding-Andrews, daughter of Otis Redding and executive director of the Foundation.

The weekend of events will kick off with the groundbreaking for the new Otis Redding Center for the Arts—a space dedicated to musical education, collaboration, practice, and performances.

Friday night, An Evening of Respect will take place at Macon’s historic Grand Opera House and feature GRAMMY Award-winning, jazz-influenced pianist Robert Glasper and GRAMMY-nominated singer Mickey Guyton.

The Big “O” Homecoming Show will take place on Saturday, September 10 at the Capitol Theatre and feature performances by Kendra Morris, Monophonics, and The War and Treaty.

The tribute show is a callback to Otis Redding’s own Home Coming Show and Dance held at the Macon City Auditorium throughout the 1960’s, where the singer brought his contemporaries and musical peers to Macon.