Steve Cropper, member of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died 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 guitar virtuoso, who contributed to and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, succumbed on Wednesday in the city of Nashville.
Considered among the greatest supporting groups in soul music, the quartet the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper later became a member of the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and played on their successful version of Soul Man.
"Steve was a cherished musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent inspired millions of lives around the world," his family expressed in a message.
"While we feel sorrow for 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 disclosed.
A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs.
"He's such a good human," Gore remarked. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Voted the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were founded, 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 entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always seen myself as a rhythm player," Cropper explained in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They are reluctant to repeat the same riff twice."
Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and in addition to Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to historical accounts, he was "integral to virtually every record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970".
"We would literally spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists we worked with, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."
