The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, musician of Booker T and the MGs, has died at the age of 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has left us 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 Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died on Wednesday in the city of Nashville.
Widely regarded among the greatest supporting groups in soul and R&B, the quartet the MGs was the house band of the historic Memphis label Stax and is best remembered for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper later became a member of 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 deeply admired musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent touched millions of lives around the world," his family stated in a statement.
"While we mourn the loss of a loved one and companion, we are consoled knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they added.
A cause of death was not released at this time.
A colleague, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new music.
"He's such a good human," Gore commented. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Named the second-best guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper first found employment at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were formed, comprising organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.
The band was entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always considered myself to be a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper explained in a previous conversation. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They refuse to play the same riff twice."
As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and in addition to Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to historical accounts, he was "a part of the majority of record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970".
"We would truly spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had nearly 20 artists on the roster, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
