Otis Blackwell (February 16, 1931 – May 6, 2002) was an American songwriter whose work influenced rock and roll. His compositions include “Fever” (recorded by Little Willie John), “Great Balls of Fire” and “Breathless” (recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis), “Don’t Be Cruel“, “All Shook Up” and “Return to Sender” (with Winfield Scott; recorded by Elvis Presley), and “Handy Man” (recorded by Jimmy Jones).

Blackwell was born in Brooklyn, New York. He learned to play the piano as a child and grew up listening to both R&B and country music. His first success was winning a local talent contest (“Amateur Night”) at the Apollo Theater in Harlem in 1952. This led to a recording contract with RCA and then with Jay-Dee. His first release was his own composition “Daddy Rolling Stone“, which became a favorite in Jamaica, where it was recorded by Derek Martin. The song later became part of the Who‘s mod repertoire.