After finishing his work on this track, Otis Redding's life was tragically cut short when his plane crashed into Lake Monona in Madison, Wisconsin on December 10, 1967. Upon this song's release, it soared to the top of the charts, becoming his only song that he sang to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. This hit also marked the first time in U.S. history a posthumous single reached number one.