December 10, 1967, Famous singer Otis Redding was killed in a plan crash. The aircraft crashed into Lake Monoma, Wisconsin. The members of his band were also onboard. There was only one survivor of 6. Otis Redding recorded many soul records. He was one of many great singers of the 1960's. On December 9, 1967, Redding and his backup band, The Bar-Kays, made an appearance in Cleveland, Ohio on the local "Upbeat" television show. The next afternoon, Redding, his manager, the pilot, and four members of The Bar-Kays were killed when his Beechcraft 18 airplane crashed into Lake Monona in Madison, Wisconsin, on December 10, 1967. The two remaining Bar-Kays were Ben Cauley and James Alexander.

Cauley was the only person aboard Redding's plane to survive the crash. Alexander was on another plane, since there were eight members in Redding's party and the plane could only hold seven, and it was Alexander's turn in the rotation to take a commercial flight. Cauley reported that he had been asleep until just seconds before impact, and recalled that upon waking he saw bandmate Phalon Jones look out a window and say, "Oh, no!" Cauley said the last thing he remembered before the crash was unbuckling his seatbelt. He then found himself in the frigid waters of the lake, grasping a seat cushion to keep afloat.

Redding's body was recovered the next day when the lake bed was searched. The pilot was 26 years old, with 1290 total hours flight hours, 118 hours in that type of aircraft, instrument rated. The aircraft was on its final approach, when it crashed into the lake 3 miles from the runway. The left engine and prop were not recovered. Aircraft tail number N390R. The cause of the crash was never precisely determined.