🔗 Share this article

Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.

The guitar virtuoso, who performed on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away recently in the city of Nashville.

Considered among the greatest supporting groups in soul music, the four-piece band Booker T & the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax and is most famous for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper later became a member of the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and played on their successful version of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent inspired generations around the world," his family expressed in a message.

"While we grieve the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they continued.

A reason for his passing was not disclosed.

A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing fresh material.

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

An Illustrious Journey

Ranked the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were founded, featuring keyboardist 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 thought of myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper said in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They won't even play the same riff twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to his official biography, he was "involved in the majority of record released by Stax from late 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would literally spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had nearly 20 artists we worked with, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."