Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, guitarist of Booker T and the MGs, has died aged 84
Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has passed away 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 Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died this past Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.
Considered among the finest supporting groups in soul and R&B, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the historic Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and performed on their popular rendition of Soul Man.
"Steve was a deeply admired artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent inspired millions of lives around the world," his family expressed in a message.
"While we grieve the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they continued.
A reason for his passing 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 wonderful human," Gore commented. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Named the second-best 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 were founded, consisting of keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced 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 seen myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper explained in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They won't even play the same riff twice."
As well as 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 available information, he was "a part of nearly all record released by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970".
"We would truly spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists on the roster, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."
