🔗 Share this article

Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.

The musician, who performed on and collaborated on writing 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.

Widely regarded among the finest backing bands in soul and R&B, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax and is best remembered for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper went on to join the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched millions of lives around the world," his family said in a message.

"While we mourn the loss of a family man and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they added.

A reason for his passing was not disclosed.

A friend, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs.

"He's such a kind human," Gore said. "We were blessed to have him, for sure."

A Storied Musical Path

Named the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper started his career 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 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 thought of myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper said in a past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They are reluctant to repeat the same phrase twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a productive 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 "involved in nearly all record released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through 1970".

"We would truly spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."