(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding

About

By the time Otis Redding wrote “(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay”, he was ambitious to finally record a number one hit. Even though he finally succeeded his goal with this song, hitting number one on the Billboard charts in March 1968, Redding never got to know how successful this song became. “(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay” was recorded shortly before he, along with four members of his backing band, his assistant and the pilot were killed in a plane crash on the 10th of December, 1967. Only one person survived the crash. While Redding’s body wasn’t even found yet, co-writer Steve Cropper was forced to go back into the studio by their record label to release something. A small month after Redding’s death, “(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay” got released, and quickly climbed the charts. It became the first posthumous number one hit in the United States' music chart history. The song even won awards, including two Grammys for Best R&B Song and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. “(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay” is sampled in many popular songs, including tracks by De La Soul, Ol' Dirty Bastard, and Blackalicious.