Inside Steve Cropper's $5 Million Estate: Who Inherits the Guitar Legend's Fortune?
Steve Cropper, the Stax guitar icon behind Booker T & the MG’s and the Blues Brothers and widely hailed as one of the greats, has died at 84, his son Cameron confirmed to Variety. He passed on Wednesday, December 3.
If you love The Blues Brothers or anything cut at Stax, this one stings: Steve Cropper has died. The guitarist, songwriter, producer, and all-around Memphis soul architect was 84. His son Cameron confirmed the news to Variety, saying Cropper passed on Wednesday, December 3. No cause of death was given.
The news
Cropper had recently spent time in a Nashville rehab facility after a fall, according to reports. Before that, he was living on his own and still working on new music. His son Stephen shared a note about his dad online, and the family put out a statement.
"It is with the heaviest of hearts that I share the news that my amazing Dad passed away this morning. He certainly lived an incredible life and enjoyed every minute of entertaining you all."
"Steve was a beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched the lives of millions worldwide. 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 ensure that his spirit and artistry will continue to move people for generations to come."
How he became the sound of Memphis (and beyond)
Born in Missouri, Cropper moved to Memphis at nine and soaked up guitar heroes like Chuck Berry, Jimmy Reed, and Chet Atkins. In the early 1960s he played in the Royal Spades, who got signed to Satellite Records. Satellite soon rebranded as Stax, the Royal Spades became the Mar-Keys, and their instrumental Last Night hit big. Cropper quickly turned into Stax's secret weapon: house guitarist, in-house producer and engineer, and one of the main hands shaping the label's unmistakable soul sound.
He co-founded Booker T. & the MGs alongside Booker T. Jones, drummer Al Jackson Jr., and bassist Donald 'Duck' Dunn. The band was racially integrated at a time when that still raised eyebrows, and they doubled as Stax's fearsome house band. Cropper also wrote and co-wrote a run of classics that basically live on every jukebox worth its salt.
The essentials (hits, credits, and milestones)
- With Booker T. & the MGs: co-wrote Green Onions, Soul-Limbo, and Time Is Tight
- With Otis Redding: co-wrote (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay and Mr. Pitiful; Dock of the Bay earned him a Grammy as a co-writer
- With Wilson Pickett: co-wrote In the Midnight Hour and 634-5789
- With Eddie Floyd: co-wrote Knock On Wood and Raise Your Hand
- With Don Covay: co-wrote Seesaw and Sookie Sookie
- Left Stax around 1970 to open TMI Studios in Memphis; produced and played sessions through the 1970s
- Worked with John Lennon and Leon Russell during that period
- Teamed up with Dunn again in the Blues Brothers band with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd; recorded multiple albums and toured
- Onscreen: appeared in The Blues Brothers (1980) and Blues Brothers 2000 (1998) with his 'The Colonel' nickname intact
- Reunited with Booker T. & the MGs; their 1994 album That's the Way It Should Be included Cruisin', which won the Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance
- Later collabs included Felix Cavaliere and Frank Black
- Released a 1969 solo set, With a Little Help from My Friends; most recently put out Friendlytown in 2024 as Steve Cropper and the Midnight Hour, which earned a Grammy nomination
Hardware and respect
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 with Booker T. & the MGs. In 1996, Mojo magazine slotted him as the No. 2 guitarist of all time, right behind Jimi Hendrix. Rankings are subjective, obviously, but no one seriously argued Cropper didn't belong in that conversation. He was also honored with the Tennessee Governor's Arts Award late in life.
Life offstage
Cropper married Betty Grooms in 1961; they had two children, Stephen and Ashley, and divorced in 1978. He married Angel Hightower in 1988, and they had two children, Cameron and Andrea Cropper-Register. He is survived by Angel and all four children.
For the trivia lovers: he and his wife bought a two-acre property with a roughly 5,500-square-foot home in Nashville in 2017 for about $304,000; recent estimates peg it around $2.5 million. Celebrity Net Worth put his career earnings at roughly $5 million. Take those online estimates as estimates.
A note on the movies
If you know Cropper from the big screen: yes, that stoic, sideburned guitarist holding down the groove in The Blues Brothers was him. The band is the joke, but the playing is deadly serious. It's a neat little window into what he did for decades: make everyone around him sound better.
Cause of death has not been announced. What is clear: the songs are going to outlive all of us.