Steve Cropper

Steve Cropper, the soulful guitarist whose sharp rhythm lines helped define the sound of Southern soul and Memphis R&B, died December 3, 2025, in Nashville, Tennessee. He was 84.

Born Steven Lee Cropper on October 21, 1941, in Dora, Missouri, he moved with his family to Memphis at the age of 9. In Missouri he heard mostly country music; in Memphis he absorbed gospel, rhythm and blues, and early rock 'n' roll from local radio and Black church services.

He bought his first guitar at 14 and quickly gravitated toward playing in groups. With friends, he formed the Royal Spades, which evolved into the Mar-Keys, a band that cut the instrumental hit "Last Night" in 1961 and became an early studio mainstay at what would become Stax Records.

At Stax, Cropper soon joined organist Booker T. Jones, bassist Lewie Steinberg and drummer Al Jackson Jr. in the label's house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s. The interracial quartet's 1962 instrumental "Green Onions" pushed Stax onto the national charts and became one of soul music's most recognizable grooves.

As a guitarist, writer, producer and de facto bandleader, Cropper helped shape an astonishing run of records cut in the modest Memphis studio. He co-wrote Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour," Eddie Floyd's "Knock on Wood" and Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay," among other songs now lodged in the soul canon.

His style prized economy over flash. "I listen to the other musicians and the singer," he told the Associated Press in 2020, explaining that he aimed to slip just a few essential licks into the spaces they left. Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards once summed him up in two words: "Perfect, man."

Cropper's rhythm and fills frame many of the best-known performances in 1960s soul. At Stax he played on numerous sides by Redding, Sam & Dave, Rufus Thomas, Don Covay, Albert King, and others, often producing or co-producing the sessions as well.

His name entered pop folklore through Sam & Dave's 1967 hit "Soul Man," when singer Sam Moore shouted "Play it, Steve!" as Cropper launched a sliding riff. The moment was replayed later when he joined the Blues Brothers Band, led by comedians John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, onstage and in two feature films.

After leaving Stax in 1970, Cropper co-founded TMI Studios in Memphis and broadened his work as a producer and session player, collaborating with artists including Rod Stewart, John Prine, John Lennon, and Tower of Power. He later settled in Nashville, where his understated authority on guitar made him a first-call player for visiting musicians across genres.

In later years he became a visible guardian of the music he had helped create. In 2016 he donated several of his Fender guitars and an amplifier to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, playing a short set at the ceremony. He appeared frequently at festivals, tributes and educational events tied to Stax and the broader story of American soul.

Cropper enjoyed a late-career renaissance on record. His 2021 album "Fire It Up" earned a Grammy nomination for best contemporary blues album, and in 2024 he released "Friendlytown" with his band the Midnight Hour, featuring Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top and a guest appearance by Queen's Brian May.

Honors accumulated as the industry caught up with his influence. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 as a member of Booker T. & the M.G.'s, and into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005. The band received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007, and Cropper was later recognized with Tennessee's Governor's Arts Award, the state's highest arts honor. Rolling Stone ranked him among the top 40 guitarists of all time.

He is survived by his wife, Angel, and four children.

By Legacy News Staff

(Image: Associated Press)