🔗 Share this article

Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.

The guitar virtuoso, who contributed to and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away this past Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.

Often cited among the greatest studio bands in soul and R&B, the quartet the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax and is best remembered for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

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

"Steve was a deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose immense talent inspired countless people around the world," his family expressed in a release.

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

A cause of death was not immediately known.

A friend, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new music.

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

A Prolific Career

Ranked the number two guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax 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 honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

"I've always considered myself to be a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper explained in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same phrase twice."

As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and besides 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 released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would often spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists we worked with, so we had a very hectic schedule."