Multiple events mark what would have been Otis Redding’s 75th birthday

Today — what would have been Otis Redding’s 75th birthday — kicks off a weekend of activities meant to honor the late singer and his extraordinary work.

This includes a photo exhibit, a short film about Redding’s life and screenings of some of his live performances. The weekend culminates with “An Evening of Respect” — a star-packed musical tribute to Redding on Sunday.

“On top of that, most of the restaurants and clubs downtown are doing special discounts on food or they are renaming plates in honor of Otis Redding or they are making Otis Redding drinks,” said Karla Redding-Andrews, who is Redding’s daughter and executive director of the Otis Redding Foundation. “It’s just become a whole downtown celebration that I’m sure in heaven, he is just basking with joy every time this happens because every time we do it more and more people get involved.”

The celebration technically kicked off Wednesday when Macon Beer Company released “Macon Dreams” — a commemorative peach beer in Redding’s honor.

Today at 11 a.m., the mayor and other officials will officially declare it “Otis Redding Day” during a ceremony at Cherry Street Plaza in front of Terminal Station.

The Douglass Theatre will have showings of Tv One’s “Unsung” program about Redding at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. today. The Tubman Museum also has a special exhibit from a student art contest sponsored by the Otis Redding Foundation, as well as a photo exhibit about Redding. The opening reception for the photo exhibit is at 7 p.m. today.

Saturday, “A Picnic Under the Stars with Otis Redding” will happen at dusk on Coleman Hill and highlight some of Redding’s live performances. The show is expected to start about 9 p.m.

“It will be live video performances in three ways,” Redding-Andrews said. “The Monterey Pop Festival performance, the Stax/Volt European tour performance as well as ‘Dreams to Remember,’ the DVD of Otis Redding that my mom, Zelma Redding, and I co-directed with David Peck.”

The weekend finishes with a Sunday night concert at the City Auditorium featuring R&B star Andra Day, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Eddie Floyd, Steve Cropper, Chuck Leavell, Robert McDuffie and a reunion of the Reddings with Dexter Redding, Otis Redding III and Mark Lockett.

“They are playing together, some are doing their own sets,” Redding-Andrews said. “It’s a really great orchestrated show.”

Day was nominated for a 2016 Grammy for her single, “Rise Up,” which she will perform with the Otis Redding Foundation’s DREAM choir.

The choir will open the show with a Salute to America, a tribute to Otis Redding and an original song from the Foundation’s annual summer camp.

“An Evening of Respect” is a ticketed event with proceeds benefiting the Otis Redding Foundation, including its DREAM Academy, which was recently approved as a statewide charter school.

“I just want the community to know how lucky we are to live in a community that continues to honor and respect the legacy of Otis Redding and all of the things we do in his honor and my mother’s honor,” Redding-Andrews said.

Visit otisreddingfoundation.org for more information about the events.

This story was originally published September 8, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Multiple events mark what would have been Otis Redding’s 75th birthday."