Otis Redding, a famous American singer-songwriter, died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967, at the age of 26. He was traveling in a private plane that he had just purchased, from Cleveland, Ohio, to a concert in Madison, Wisconsin, when it crashed into an icy lake near Madison. The crash killed Redding and all but one of his band members. The cause of the crash was never determined. Redding had already recorded close to 10 albums’ worth of original studio tracks and was considered a master of soul music. He left behind his wife, Zelma, and four children.