Steve Cropper, musician of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.
The artist, who contributed to and collaborated on writing the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away on Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.
Widely regarded among the greatest studio bands in the history of soul music, the quartet Booker T & the MGs was the house band of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is best remembered for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and performed on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent touched countless people around the world," his family said in a message.
"While we grieve the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they added.
A cause of death was not disclosed.
A colleague, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new songs.
"He's such a wonderful human," Gore said. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Ranked the number two guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper began working at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs came together, featuring organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always considered myself to be a rhythm guitarist," Cropper said in a past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They refuse to play the same phrase twice."
Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and in addition to Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to available information, he was "involved in nearly all record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970".
"We would truly spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had nearly 20 artists signed to the label, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
