Steve Cropper, member of Booker T and the MGs, has died at the age of 84
Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.
The musician, who performed on and collaborated on writing the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died recently in the city of Nashville.
Often cited among the greatest studio bands in soul and R&B, the quartet Booker T & the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is best remembered for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper went on to join the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and performed on their popular rendition of Soul Man.
"Steve was a deeply admired artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent inspired countless people around the world," his family stated in a release.
"While we grieve the loss of a family man and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted.
A cause of death was not immediately known.
A colleague, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs.
"He's such a wonderful human," Gore said. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Named the runner-up for 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, consisting of organist 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 thought of myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper said in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They won't even play 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 collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to his official biography, he was "a part of virtually every record issued by Stax from late 1961 through 1970".
"We would often spend long days in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had nearly 20 artists we worked with, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."
