The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, musician of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.
The artist, who played on and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away on Wednesday in the city of Nashville.
Considered among the greatest supporting groups in the history of soul music, the four-piece band Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the house band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax and is most famous for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper later became a member of the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man.
"Steve was a cherished artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted countless people around the world," his family expressed in a message.
"While we grieve the loss of a loved one and companion, we take solace knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they continued.
A cause of death was not immediately known.
An associate, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new songs.
"He's such a kind human," Gore remarked. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper began working at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were founded, featuring keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded 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 player," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They refuse to play the same riff twice."
Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and alongside 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 "integral to the majority of record put out by Stax from 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would literally spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had a roster of artists signed to the label, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."
