Steve Cropper, a founding member of Booker T. & the M.G.’s, has died at age 84.
The guitarist passed away on Wednesday in Nashville, according to the president and CEO of the Soulsville Foundation, Pat Mitchell Worley, per the Associated Press.
Worley said that she learned about Cropper’s death from his family.
A cause of death for Cropper was not immediately known. APWorley’s foundation headquarters is located at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis. Cropper’s former employer, Stax Records, used to be at the museum.
A cause of death has yet to be revealed.
Producer Eddie Gore, who was a longtime friend of Cropper’s, claimed he was with the late hitmaker on Tuesday at a rehabilitation facility in Nashville. According to the AP, the musician recently suffered a fall.
Gore alleged that Cooper was working on new music at the time of their visit.
“He’s such a good human. We were blessed to have him, for sure,” the engineer told the outlet.
Cropper was a major player in shaping the Memphis music scene in the ’60s.
Cropper’s very name was immortalized in the 1967 smash “Soul Man,” recorded by Sam & Dave.
In 1967’s “Soul Man,” recorded by Sam & Dave, singer Sam Moore shouts out “Play it, Steve!”
Cropper reenacted the moment in 1970 after becoming an intricate part of the Blues Brothers backing band. He portrayed “The Colonel” in the band and toured with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, and appeared in their 1980 film.
Cropper also starred in the sequel, “Blues Brothers 2000.”
In 2020, Cropper spoke candidly about his career.
“I listen to the other musicians and the singer. I’m not listening to just me. I make sure I’m sounding OK before we start the session. Once we’ve presented the song, then I listen to the song and the way they interpret it. And I play around all that stuff. That’s what I do. That’s my style,” he told The Associated Press at the time.
Cropper was joined in Booker T. & the M.G.’s, by keyboardist Booker T. Jones, bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn and drummer Al Jackson.
At the time, it was rare for a group to be racially integrated like Booker T. & the M.G.’s were.
Cropper got his first mail-order guitar at just 14 years old. RICK MACKLER-GLOBE PHOTOS, INC.“When you walked in the door at Stax, there was absolutely no color,” Cropper reflected. “We were all there for the same reason — to get a hit record.”
Meanwhile, after a decade at Stax Records, the producer worked on albums by Rod Stewart, Peter Frampton, Ringo Starr, Art Garfunkel and Wynonna Judd.
In 1992, Cropper was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Booker T. and the M.G.’s.
That same year, Cropper, Dunn and Jones played at a Madison Square Garden tribute concert to Bob Dylan.
Cropper was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 as a member of Booker T. and the M.G.’s. Everett CollectionJackson died in 1975 and Dunn passed away in 2012. Jones is 81.
In 2005, Cropper was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Then, two years later in 2007, he received a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement.
Rolling Stone magazine ranked Cropper 39th on its 100 Greatest Guitarists list, with the outlet dubbing him: “the secret ingredient in some of the greatest rock and soul songs.”
Over the years, the famed artist released 12 solo albums. His most recent body of work was 2024’s “Friendlytown.”
The album was nominated for a Grammy.
That same year, Cropper appeared in the HBO documentary “Stax: Soulsville USA,” to speak about the beloved label.
Cropper also received the Tennessee Governor’s Arts Award earlier this year. At the time of his death, Cropper was also set to publish a memoir.
