The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, member of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who performed on and helped pen Otis Redding's 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 best studio bands in soul music, the group Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the historic Memphis label Stax/Volt and is primarily known 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 featured on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted countless people around the world," his family said in a statement.
"While we mourn the loss of a loved one and companion, we take solace knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they continued.
A cause of death was not immediately known.
An associate, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on fresh material.
"He's such a good human," Gore remarked. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Voted the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were founded, featuring organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always considered myself to be a rhythm guitarist," Cropper explained in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They won't even play the same riff 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 helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to available information, he was "involved in nearly all record released by Stax from late 1961 through 1970".
"We would truly spend long days in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had nearly 20 artists we worked with, so we had a very hectic schedule."
