Dan Aykroyd, Stevie Van Zandt, Public Enemy frontman Chuck D and others are mourning the loss of Steve Cropper, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer whose guitar was omnipresent on classic recordings by Booker T. & the MGs, Otis Redding, the Blues Brothers, and other rock and soul hits over the years.
His death was confirmed on Dec. 3 by his son Cameron to Variety.
A day after the news broke, Blues Brothers co-creator and co-star Aykroyd took to X, formerly Twitter, to pay tribute.
“Cracking a Head to celebrate Steve Cropper who was a musical giant, a principal creative backbone of Stax Records who influenced every songwriter and guitarist in Rock & Roll from the 60s onward. The Blues Brothers would not exist without him. It was an honor to have shared studios and stages with ‘The Colonel’,” Aykroyd posted on Dec. 4.
Cropper appeared in both movies—1980’s The Blues Brothers and Blues Brothers 2000—and performed on the chart-topping Briefcase Full of Blues album, which went on to sell more than 2 million copies, as well as their other albums. For Cropper and his Booker T. & the MG’s bandmate bassist Donald Dunn, playing on the Blues Brothers’ hit “Soul Man” was a full-circle moment, since they both also played on Sam & Dave’s original as part of the Stax house band.
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band guitarist Stevie Van Zandt also paid his respects to Cropper in a post on X. “Steve was incredibly important. As a guitar player, writer, and producer. And being in a biracial band in Memphis, Tennessee in the ’60s was quite meaningful He’s an historic loss,” he wrote.
Public Enemy frontman and visual artist Chuck D paid tribute to Cropper with a drawing he shared on X. “sPEcial line Chuck DASH tribute to Steve Cropper @StaxRecords 🙏🏿,” he wrote in a post along with his artwork.
Even some beyond the music world took time to remember Cropper, including actress Justine Bateman. “Very sorry to hear about the passing of legendary guitarist Steve Cropper. He was really great to me on the film SATISFACTION. He was the Music Producer on that film and was so nice to me. Gave me one of his guitars. Check out his incomparable guitar work,” she wrote in a post, along with a photo of Cropper and the signed guitar he gifted her.
Another musician remembering Cropper was current blues guitar favorite, Joe Bonamassa. “Words fail me in describing Steve Cropper’s impact on music. He was on the session when history was made. He came up with the guitar parts we all studied. He produced the records we all worshipped. He was my friend and a true great. Rest in peace. This one really hurts,” he wrote along with a photo featuring him and Cropper.
This story was originally published by Parade on Dec 5, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
