🔗 Share this article

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

The musician, who played on and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away this past Wednesday in Nashville.

Considered among the best backing bands in the history of soul music, the four-piece band the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is best remembered for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent touched countless people around the world," his family expressed in a statement.

"While we grieve the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted.

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 new songs.

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

A Storied Musical Path

Voted the number two guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax Records 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 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 rhythm guitarist," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They refuse to 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 historical accounts, he was "a part of the majority of record put out by Stax from late 1961 through 1970".

"We would literally spend long days in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."