Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who played on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died on Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.
Considered among the best supporting groups in soul music, the four-piece band Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is primarily known for their 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and featured on their popular rendition of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted countless people around the world," his family stated 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 added.
A specific cause was not immediately known.
A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new music.
"He's such a kind human," Gore remarked. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
Voted the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper first found employment at the Stax label 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 rhythm player," Cropper explained in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They won't even play the same riff twice."
As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific 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 "a part of nearly all record issued by Stax from late 1961 through 1970".
"We would literally spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had nearly 20 artists signed to the label, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
