He was born on Oct. 21, 1941, in Dora, Missouri, and moved to Memphis with his family when he was 9. By 14, he had his first guitar; by 20, he had scored his first hit single with his band the Mar-Keys, "Last Night."
The Missouri-born guitarist played on dozens of hit records over the decades, including classic songs by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave and the Blues Brothers.
Steve Cropper, the legendary guitarist who was a session musician with Stax Records in the '60s, has died. He was 84.
Cropper was also a member of Booker T. & the MG's, the Memphis-based interracial group that served as Stax's house band.
Cropper became a part of the Stax Records family, serving as both an A&R representative for the label and a member of the Booker T. & the MG's house band.
They played on nearly every recording session during their peak years in the '60s, backing such artists as Redding, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Eddie Floyd and Wilson Pickett.
What Songs Did Steve Cropper Play On?
In addition to playing guitar, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, cowriting classic songs like Redding's "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay," Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour" and Floyd's "Knock on Wood."
Even after Cropper parted ways with Stax Records in 1970, he remained a busy and in-demand session guitarist, recording with artists such as Jeff Beck, John Lennon and Rod Stewart.
In 1978, he joined the Blues Brothers band with former Stax bandmate Donald "Duck" Dunn, receiving a shout-out of "Play it, Steve!" from John Belushi in "Soul Man," echoing the same line used in Sam & Dave's original 1967 recording of the song that precedes Cropper's solo.
What Are Steve Cropper's Accomplishments?
Cropper was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 with his Booker T. & the MGs bandmates; he was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
He was nominated for seven Grammy Awards over the years, most recently for Best Contemporary Blues Album for 2021's Fire It Up.