The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, musician of Booker T and the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84
The legendary guitarist 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 co-wrote the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, succumbed recently in the city of Nashville.
Widely regarded among the finest supporting groups in the history of soul music, the four-piece band Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the influential Memphis label Stax and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper went on to join the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and played on their popular rendition of Soul Man.
"Steve was a deeply admired artist, writer, and producer whose immense talent inspired millions of lives around the world," his family said in a release.
"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a family man and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they noted.
A specific cause was not disclosed.
A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on fresh material.
"He's such a good human," Gore said. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Voted the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs came together, 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 inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always seen myself as a rhythm player," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same phrase 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 helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to his official biography, he was "integral to nearly all record released by Stax from late 1961 through 1970".
"We would truly spend long days in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had nearly 20 artists we worked with, so we had a very hectic schedule."
