The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, musician of Booker T and the MGs, has died aged 84
The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the iconic band 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 recently in Music City, Nashville.
Widely regarded among the finest backing bands in soul music, the group Booker T & the MGs was the house band of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is primarily known for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper went on to join the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their popular rendition 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 live forever through his music," they continued.
A cause of death was not immediately known.
A friend, Eddie Gore, stated 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 good human," Gore commented. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
A Prolific Career
Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax 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 honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always considered myself to be a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They refuse to play the same riff twice."
As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to available information, he was "involved in nearly all record released by Stax from late 1961 through 1970".
"We would literally spend long days in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a very hectic schedule."
