Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, who played on seminal recordings by such artists as Otis Redding, Booker T & the M.G.’s, Wilson Pickett and many more, died Wednesday (Dec. 3) in Nashville. He was 84.

Cropper’s son confirmed his father’s death on Facebook. “It’s with the heaviest of hearts that I share the news that my amazing Dad passed away this morning,” Stephen Cropper posted. “He certainly lived an incredible life and enjoyed every minute of entertaining you all. Please lift prayers of comfort for my family.”

As the guitarist for Booker T & the M.G.’s, which served as Stax Records’ house band during the 1960s, Cropper was an architect of the sound, with his ringing, often spare guitar work and deft touch heard on R&B and pop classics including Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,”  Eddie Floyd’s “Knock on Wood,” Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour” and Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man” (Sam Moore immortalized Cropper with his “Play It, Steve,” ad lib on “Soul Man”).

“Steve Cropper was a towering figure in the history of rock and R&B,” says Steve Greenberg, reissue producer of 1991’s Grammy-winning The Complete Stax-Volt Singles box set, who frequently worked with Cropper. “As one of the all-time great electric guitarists, his unique playing style brought deep character to hits ranging from ‘Green Onions’ to ‘Dock of the Bay’ to Rod Stewart’s ‘Tonight’s the Night.’ Add to that his songwriting and production on classics like ‘In the Midnight Hour,’ ‘Knock on Wood’ and, of course, ‘Dock of the Bay,’ and Steve Cropper goes down as one of the key creators of popular music in the 1960s.”

Greenberg also notes the role of Cropper and the band in a racially divisive time. “Steve, along with Duck Dunn, Al Jackson and Booker T. Jones, recording as Booker T. and the M.G.’s, were the rare mutiracial group that dared defy the South’s awful color line in the early ’60s. Working together at Stax Studios in segregated Memphis during the most tumultuous years of the civil right movement, they, in a spirit of equality and fraternity, created an indelible body of American music.”

Cropper, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 as a member of Booker T & the M.G.’s, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005, was also a noted producer, telling The New York Times in 2018 that he finished producing “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” under great duress following Redding’s death in a plane crash in 1967. “If I had a week to work on it, it probably would have been overembellished,” he said. Instead, he finished it in less than 24 hours.

The song earned Cropper one his two Grammys, winning for best rhythm & blues song at the 1969 ceremony. Cropper was nominated for nine Grammys, including most recently in 2024 for best contemporary blues album for his set, Friendlytown. In addition to “Dock of the Bay,” he won at the 1995 ceremony for best pop instrumental performance for the Booker T. & the M.G.’s track “Cruisin’.”

Cropper experienced a renaissance in 1979 when The Blues Brothers emerged. He got a phone call from John Belushi, who was half of the fictional blues duo Jake and Elwood Blues, with his “brother,” Dan Aykroyd, and recorded with the pair and made a suggestion that was golden. “What they wanted to do probably would have made it anyway, I don’t know, was basically all slow, kind of medium-tempo blues songs. Nothing wrong with blues songs, but there was nothing in there commercial to dance to,” Cropper recalled in an interview for the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum in 2019.

“So, at the end of the rehearsal one day I said, ‘John, why don’t you do something you can dance to?’ He said, ‘Like what?’ I said, ‘Like Sam & Dave,’” he continued. I looked at [keyboardist] Paul Shaffer and said, ‘Remember “Soul Man”?’ and they started going crazy and dancing. So, when they get through with it… John turns around to me and says ‘Steve, I love that song, but it’s too high for me,’ and I just dropped it down.” The remake reached No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1979 and introduced the classic to a new generation.

“Every note he played, every song he wrote, and every artist he inspired ensures that his spirit and artistry will continue to move people for generations to come. and countless musicians and fans whose lives he transformed through his extraordinary gift,” his family said in their statement.

“Steve Cropper’s offerings to American music are significant but his contribution to soul and R&B music are immeasurable,” Pat Mitchell Worley CEO, Soulsville Foundation — which includes the Stax Museum, Stax Music Academy, and Stax Charter School — said in a statement. “As a founding member of Booker T. & the M.G.’s and a cornerstone of the Stax Records sound, his songwriting and guitar work shaped the very language of soul music. A gifted songwriter, producer, and musician, Cropper helped create timeless hits that continue to influence artists and people worldwide. His signature style helped define an era and cemented his legacy as one of the most important guitarists in modern music history.”

Survivors include wife Angel Cropper and children Andrea, Cameron, Stephen and Ashley.

Daddy Yankee has brought a bombshell lawsuit accusing his former manager, Raphy Pina, and estranged wife Mireddys González of scheming to steal songwriting royalties during a nearly decade-long racketeering conspiracy.

The reggaeton star (Ramón Ayala Rodríguez) is bringing civil claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, a federal organized crime statute often deployed against mobsters and gangs. The 107-page lawsuit accuses Pina, a veteran Latin music executive and founder of Pina Records, of plotting with González and other associates to fraudulently add Pina as a songwriter on Daddy Yankee’s split sheets.

“[Pina], with the assistance and acquiescence of co-defendants, systematically misappropriated publishing income,” reads the legal complaint filed Saturday (Nov. 29). “Defendants’ conduct constituted a deliberate, sustained and coordinated attack on the integrity of plaintiffs’ publishing operations.”

Daddy Yankee alleges that Pina falsely made himself a co-author so he could receive royalties on more than a dozen of his songs back to 2015, including the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart entries “La Rompe Corazones,” “Runaway” “De Vuelta Pa’ La Vuelta” and “Vuelve” featuring Bad Bunny.

The lawsuit claims Pina was the “central architect of the RICO enterprise” and that González, who managed Daddy Yankee’s business enterprises during more than 20 years of marriage, provided the “administrative backbone” for falsifying the split sheets. The two allegedly got help from Pina’s music industry mentor, Andres Coll-Fernández, and lawyer Edwin Prado-Galarza.

Daddy Yankee filed for divorce from González in December 2024, and marriage dissolution proceedings are still ongoing. In the meantime, the singer has brought multiple legal actions against his estranged wife, alleging she severely mismanaged the finances of his label, El Cartel Records, and publishing company Los Cangris. Daddy Yankee seized control of the companies, and he says he discovered the “chilling truth” of Pina’s royalty fraud during an ensuing financial audit.

The lawsuit claims that Pina also used the same scheme to steal royalties from other artists he managed. It adds that Pina, who has served prison time for gun possession, used threats of violence to “silence and deter” young and vulnerable artists from questioning his tactics.

“Leveraging his considerable height and strength, [Pina] cultivated an atmosphere of constant threat, ensuring that artists and associates remained compliant out of fear for their safety and well-being,” wrote Daddy Yankee’s lawyers.

The lawsuit seeks a court injunction to restore Daddy Yankee’s full publishing rights, as well as financial damages of at least $3 million for the misappropriated royalties.

Pina, Coll-Fernández and Prado-Galarza did not immediately return requests for comment on Wednesday (Dec. 3). González’s attorney, Roberto Sueiro, told Billboard that the claims are “all a fabrication” created by Daddy Yankee to gain a tactical advantage in their divorce proceedings.  

“Daddy Yankee wants a favorable split of the community property that comes from their 20-plus years marriage,” Sueiro said. “He’s trying to use the press to create a favorable atmosphere before that split takes place.”

Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip.

This week: The biggest synch show of the 2020s is back at full power with a new spate ’70s and ’80s classics to boost, while a dance challenge puts a Louisiana rapper on the national radar and an ’00s alt-folk duo sees a maybe-seasonal revival.

Feeling ‘Stranger’ Every Day: Season 5 of Netflix Smash Nets Huge Gains for Soundtrack Songs

It’s been about as highly anticipated as any season of television this decade, and as of Thanksgiving, it’s officially underway: Stranger Things, the smash Netflix sci-fi series, kicked off its fifth and final season with its first four episodes. And as has always been the case for the ‘80s-set show, music of the time period plays a big part in the action — and fans have updated their playlists and streaming habits accordingly. 

Though none of the newly featured songs are off to the blockbuster-type start enjoyed by songs by Kate Bush and Metallica in previous seasons, the first wave of Stranger Things S5 has already resulted in massive gains for nearly every song featured in its first four episodes. The biggest percentage bump is for Diana Ross’ late-disco classic “Upside Down” — played as a coded radio transmission in episode one — which is up 373% to 953,000 official on-demand streams over the first four tracking days of this charting week (Nov. 28-Dec. 1) compared to the same period the week before, according to early data provided by Luminate. 

Other songs more than doubling in streams thanks to their Stranger Things usage include ABBA’s ‘70s pop gem “Fernando” (up 206% to 615,000 streams) and Tiffany’s mall-pop staple cover of Tommy James’ “I Think We’re Alone Now” (up 289% to 1.3 million). And it’s not just the period-appropriate soundtrack cuts surging: Michael Jackson’s 1972 version of “Rockin’ Robin,” used as theme music for Maya Hawke’s Robin character’s radio show, is up 218% to 187,000 streams, while The Chordettes’ episode two-ending 1954 pop smash “Mr. Sandman” rises 173% to 564,000 streams. 

And of course, the signature Stranger Things synch of them all is back: Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God),” favorite song of Sadie Sink’s Max character, recurs multiple times in the early parts of Season Five. The song may not yet be on its way to threatening a re-charting akin to the 2022 run that brought it to the Hot 100’s top five for the first time — though it does re-enter Hot Rock & Alternative Songs at No. 15 this week (chart dated Dec. 6) — but fans certainly aren’t sick of it yet, as “Hill” grows 110% to 2.7 million streams over the same period. And with the daily numbers still going up, and the rest of Season Five arriving later this month, who knows? Stranger Things have happened. — ANDREW UNTERBERGER

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H3adband’s “Boo” Rides Dance Challenge to Streaming Success 

Shortly before Halloween (Oct. 14), Baton Rouge rapper H3adband dropped the aptly titled “Boo,” a catchy new-age Louisiana rap anthem complete with spooky synths. By Oct. 29, a dance trend created by TikTok user @josh.diggss, who’s created several dance challenges over the years, helped the song truly take off on streaming. 

User @josh.diggss’ first “Boo” dance clip (with user @zeromeech) garnered over 350,000 likes, and the challenge has since been joined by Savannah James, DaBaby, and Dancing With the Stars pro Valentin Chmerkovskiy. H3adband’s original TikTok sound tied to “Boo” currently plays in over 103,000 posts, while the official “Boo” sound plays in over 2,300 posts. Between the dance trend and listeners noting the similarities between H3adband’s and NBA YoungBoy’s voices, “Boo” has been booming on streaming. 

“Boo” has risen 1,882% in official on-demand U.S. streams over the past three weeks, according to Luminate. During the week of Nov. 7-13, “Boo” earned just under 175,000 streams, marking a 260% boost from the 48,000 streams it pulled the week prior (Oct. 31-Nov. 6). By the week of Nov. 14-20, streams for “Boo” rose a further 160%, and the following week (Nov. 21-27), the track logged 960,000 streams, up 111%. 

With a dance trend embraced across demographics and a sound that’s in tune with one of the year’s buzziest rappers, the sky’s the limit for H3adband and “Boo.” — KYLE DENIS

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She & Him Get In on Sentimental Season With Viral ‘I Thought I Saw Your Face Today’ Revival

She & Him, the alt-folk duo consisting of cross-platform star Zooey Deschanel and acclaimed singer-songwriter M. Ward, never had major chart hits upon their late-’00s breakout, but became a cultural fixture of the time period with their wispy ballads and stripped-down covers of pop classics. And though the pair did release a full-length holiday favorite in 2011’s A Very She & Him Christmas set, it’s a song from one of their strictly secular works that’s finding renewed life as the Yuletide season approaches this year. 

“I Thought I Saw Your Face Today,” a piano ballad from 2008 debut set Volume One, has gone viral on TikTok through a series of edits setting the emotional post-breakup lament against famous movie and TV clips, nature montages and even sports highlight montages, with users unable to resist its sentimental undertow. (“Everyb gangster till they listen to sum like this” reads the top comment on the song’s official YouTube page, courtesy of @gav.on.rs.s.) 

Consequently, the song is scaling the streaming charts as few non-holiday songs generally do this time of year. It’s up to over 2.5 million weekly official on-demand U.S. streams as of the chart week ending Nov. 27, according to Luminate, and even bounded into the top 100 of Spotify’s Daily Top Songs USA for Monday (Dec. 1). If it keeps rising at this rate — and the actual holiday songs don’t crowd it out too much — She & Him could contend for the first Hot 100 hit of its career, and already has a first-ever career appearance on Hot Rock and Alternative Songs this week (with a No. 20 debut) for its efforts. – AU

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Viral Funeral Performances Lift Neace Robinson’s ‘I Wish That Heaven Had a Phone’ Out of Obscurity 

Last month (Nov. 2), Louisiana singer-songwriter Neace Robinson posted a passionate rendition of her somber 2018 tribute to the dearly departed, “I Wish That Heaven Had a Phone.” The clip, in which she belts the song at a funeral, quickly went viral on TikTok, earning over 31.5 million views. The accompanying TikTok sound currently boasts over 78,000 posts, while the official “Heaven” sound plays in 700 different posts. As additional videos of performances at different funerals and family gatherings started to make the rounds, TikTok soon realized that Robinson frequently got booked to sing “Heaven” locally. 

 The song’s melody and unique performance venues were part of the initial attraction, but the “1, 2… 1, 2, 3, release ‘em” ad lib before the chorus emerged as the true meme. Now used in videos joking about “releasing” students on holiday break and “releasing” semester-destroying final grades, “Heaven” is inescapable on TikTok. According to Luminate, “Heaven” earned 18,800 official on-demand U.S. streams during the week of Nov. 14-20, according to Luminate, marking a whopping 874% increase from the 1,900 official streams it earned the week prior (Nov. 7-13). By the week of Nov. 21-27, “Heaven” leapt a further 339% to over 82,500 official streams. 

Easily the most-consumed song of her recording career so far, Robinson has stumbled into her first major breakout moment with the R&B and gospel-infused “Heaven.” — KD

Louis Carr has been appointed president of BET. Carr succeeds president/CEO Scott Mills, who announced earlier on Wednesday (Dec. 3) that he was exiting the company after 23 years.

According to a press release announcing Carr’s appointment, the newly named president will report to George Cheeks, chair of TV media at Paramount. In his role, Cheeks’ oversight includes CBS, BET, MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. 

“Louis’ leadership has been integral to BET’s success for nearly four decades,” said Cheeks in a statement. “His vision for the future will drive innovation, deepen BET’s cultural impact and position the brand for continued growth.”

Carr’s promotion expands his prior role as president of media sales at BET, where he has worked for 39 years. During his tenure at the cable network, Carr has developed partnerships with a host of major companies, including Procter & Gamble, Walmart, Unilever, McDonald’s, Meta and Toyota.

“BET and its commitment to Black and Brown communities has been my life’s work,” commented Carr. “It’s a privilege to lead the brand to the next level of excellence and impact.”

Carr’s appointment and Mills’ departure follow Paramount Global’s $8 billion merger with Skydance Media in August. BET, which celebrated its 45^th anniversary this year, had been up for sale beginning in 2023, with Paramount said to be interested in selling a majority stake. Media stories pegged Tyler Perry, Byron Allen, Sean “Diddy” Combs and Mills as among the bidders before Paramount announced ahead of the merger that BET Media Group was no longer for sale.

Mills last spoke with Billboard in early August, reflecting on the network’s 45-year legacy before moving forward under new ownership. “I would assure everyone who cares about BET that it will continue to be here for our community,” said Mills. “We’re all committed to that.”