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Stevie Wonder has been called a “genius” and sold 129,000,000 records. But he always thought one Stax rival was out of his league
Stevie Wonder praised Otis Redding’s performances, saying that listeners wanted Redding to get whatever he was longing for. The admiration highlights Redding’s distinctive ability to convey emotion through his singing, a quality Wonder saw as deeper than technical skill and difficult to reproduce.
Redding’s 1964 album *Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul* included “Respect”, “A Change Is Gonna Come” and his version of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”. Producer Steve Cropper recalled that Redding sang “fashion” instead of “faction” on the latter, but said the mistake added to his uniqueness. Redding died in a plane crash in December 1967; Wonder went on to become a defining Motown artist, with the article citing about 129 million record sales.
In short
- Stevie Wonder deeply admired Otis Redding’s emotional singing.
- Redding’s 1964 album featured several celebrated soul covers.
- Redding died in 1967, leaving a lasting influence on Wonder.