Steve Cropper, the guitarist whose work with Booker T. and the MG's and performing on dozens of hits created at the legendary Stax Records in Memphis got him a spot in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, died yesterday at the age of 84.
His family released a statement saying he "died peacefully in Nashville at the age of 84".
“Steve was a beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched millions of lives around the world.
“While we mourn the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will live forever through his music. Every note he played, every song he wrote, and every artist he inspired ensures that his spirit and artistry will continue to move people for generations to come.”
- Steve Cropper was born October 21st, 1941 in Dora, Missouri. His family moved to Memphis when he was nine and he began playing guitar at 14.
- He started doing session work in 1960 for Satellite Records, which renamed itself Stax Records.
- In 1962, after a scrapped session with rockabilly artist Billy Lee Riley, Cropper, bassist Lewie Steinberg, drummer Al Jackson Junior and multi-instrumentalist Booker T. Jones worked on an instrumental dominated by Jones’s Hammond organ. "Green Onions," released under the name Booker T. and the MG's, was a breakout hit for Stax, hitting number-three on the Hot 100.
- The group, which had Cropper’s high school friend Donald "Duck" Dunn join in 1964, racked up a run of pop and R&B hits through the rest of the 1960s. The group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
- Cropper was also the head of A&R for Stax in the 1960s, and he produced, engineered and/or co-wrote hits for Otis Redding (“(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay”), Wilson Pickett ("In the Midnight Hour”) Sam & Dave, Rufus Thomas and Eddie Floyd ("Knock on Wood").
- Cropper’s highest-profile post-Stax gig was as lead guitarist for John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd’s musical act The Blues Brothers. He played on the duo’s double-platinum 1978 album, Briefcase Full of Blues, and four other albums, and appeared in 1980's The Blues Brothers and its 1998 sequel Blues Brothers 2000.
- His last album, 2024's Friendlytown, featured contributions from Queen guitarist Brian May and ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons. May released a statement saying, "We sadly lost one of the great original guitar heroes... Steve Cropper was and always will be an inspiration to all of us who bend electric guitar strings to this day... I was fortunate to meet and work with this genial and generous human being - and we all made sure he heard the words that left him in no doubt of the energy we all felt flow from him , and the debt we owed him. RIP Steve."
- Cropper also played on Mark Knopfler's 2024 all-star re-recording of his (Knopfler's) 1983 instrumental, "Local Hero."
Cropper is survived by his second wife Angel and their two children, along with two children from his first marriage.
Check out an original annoucement about his passing here from Steve's official Instagram page.