Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, musician of Booker T and the MGs, has died aged 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who played on and collaborated on writing the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, succumbed this past Wednesday in the city of Nashville.
Considered among the greatest backing bands in soul and R&B, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous for their 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched generations around the world," his family expressed in a statement.
"While we grieve the loss of a loved one and companion, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted.
A specific cause was not immediately known.
A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music.
"He's such a kind human," Gore commented. "We were blessed to have him, for sure."
A Prolific Career
Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were founded, consisting of organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.
The band was entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always seen myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper explained in a previous conversation. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same riff twice."
Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to historical accounts, he was "a part of virtually every record released by Stax from 1961 through 1970".
"We would truly spend long days in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."
