The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, guitarist 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 died at the age of 84.
The musician, who contributed to and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died on Wednesday in the city of Nashville.
Considered among the best studio bands in soul music, the group the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper later became a member of the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man.
"Steve was a deeply admired musician, songwriter, and producer whose extraordinary talent inspired millions of lives around the world," his family stated in a statement.
"While we grieve the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they added.
A specific cause was not released at this time.
A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new music.
"He's such a kind human," Gore said. "We were blessed to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Ranked the second-best guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper began working at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs came together, 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 inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always thought of myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They are reluctant to repeat the same riff twice."
In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to available information, he was "involved in virtually every record released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970".
"We would often spend long days in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
