Steve Cropper, Blues Brothers guitarist and Stax legend, dies at 84

Steve Cropper, the guitarist of Booker T. & the MG's and longtime member of the Blues Brothers band, died on Wednesday at the age of 84, US media reported.

Pat Mitchell Worley, president and CEO of the Soulsville Foundation, said Cropper died in Nashville, according to Fox News. His family informed the Soulsville Foundation, which operates the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis.

A cause of death has not been disclosed.

Cropper, also a songwriter and producer, played a central role in crafting the soul sound of Memphis at Stax Records. He was known for melodic guitar lines and a signature style that supported vocalists rather than overshadowing them.

His name gained wider recognition on the 1967 hit "Soul Man" by Sam & Dave, when singer Sam Moore exclaimed, "Play it, Steve!" before Cropper launched into a guitar riff.

Cropper was a member of Booker T. & the MG's, a racially integrated band also featuring keyboardist Booker T. Jones, bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn and drummer Al Jackson.

"There was absolutely no color. We were all there for the same reason — to get a hit record," he said of their time at Stax, according to the outlet.

He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005.