🔗 Share this article

Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.

The guitar virtuoso, who performed 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.

Considered among the greatest supporting groups in the history of soul music, the group Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is primarily known for their 1962 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 deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose immense talent touched millions of lives around the world," his family said in a message.

"While we grieve the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they added.

A reason for his passing was not released at this time.

An associate, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new songs.

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

An Illustrious Journey

Named the number two guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs came together, comprising 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 seen myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper said in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They refuse to play the same riff twice."

In addition to being 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 historical accounts, he was "a part of virtually every record put out 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 a roster of artists signed to the label, so we had a very hectic schedule."