Soul, blues singer Otis Clay dead

The soul, blues and gospel singer, whose career spanned decades and a range of musical influences, was born in Waxhaw, Mississippi, where he began singing gospel music, and arrived on the Chicago music scene in the mid1950s, according to a biography and interview with Clay on his website. 

His first national rhythm and blues hit, “That’s How It is (When You’re in Love),” came in 1967, with the following year seeing another single, “She’s About a Mover,” hitting the charts. In the mid-1970s, Clay launched his own Echo Records. His album “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional R&B Performance in 2008. In 2013, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis. 

A community advocate as well as a performer, Clay was a board member of People For New Direction, a local non-profit with a mission to address socioeconomic issues on the city’s West Side. He also served as chairman of the board for Tobacco Road Inc., which helped build a cultural center in Chicago.