Brian May has revealed how a guest appearance on a track by Steve Cropper turned into a tribute from one legendary guitarist to another.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, May says that he developed the song My Angels Are Calling as a eulogy following Cropper’s death at the age of 84 on 3 December 2025.
“I don’t usually explain songs,” May states. “But I kind of wanted to tell you the story about this one because it means a lot to me, this particular song.”
May begins by acknowledging the huge influence that Cropper has had on generations of guitarists.
As a member of Booker T. & The M.G.’s, Cropper backed a host of major stars including Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Sam & Dave. Cropper also co-wrote several iconic hit songs – most notably Redding’s (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay, Booker T. & The M.G.’s’ Green Onions, Pickett’s In The Midnight Hour and Eddie Floyd’s Knock On Wood.
Says May: “Steve Cropper, of course, is a seminal white blues guitarist. One of the people who influenced everybody who’s playing rock ’n’ roll today. One of the very first people to bend strings that way, and we were all like, ‘Whoa!’ I mean, I was a kid, and for us it was like making a guitar talk.”
The 2024 album Friendlytown, credited to Steve Cropper & The Midnight Hour, featured a guest appearance from May on the track Too Much Stress, with another famous player, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, contributing throughout the album.
May says of Too Much Stress: “It’s part of Steve Cropper’s lineage. And I’m proud to be part of that.”
Nevertheless, May admits that when he was sent a demo track for Cropper’s following album he was initially reluctant to collaborate on it.
“I was like, ‘Well, I'm not sure if I can do it right now. I’m not really in the mood. I’m not really hearing it. I don’t relate to what you’re saying. It doesn’t quite click with me, so maybe I have to pass on this one.”
However, when May received a second track – featuring Gibbons – he was immediately intrigued by the rhythm parts played by Cropper.
“He’d done these wonderful little riffs,” May says, “and it’s a very odd chord sequence. It goes all the way up, and it goes all the way back down again.”
May was working on a new arrangement for this song when he received the news of Cropper’s death.
He recalls: “The very day, like the following week, when I’m supposed to go into the studio to record this song, I hear that Steve’s passed away. Very sad to hear, and immediately my brain clicked into a different place – I thought, ‘This song has to be a memorial for Steve.’ If I can do it… I’m going to sing it as if I were him. He’s already played on the track, which is great.”
He continues: “As soon as he’d gone, I could feel it, and in just a few hours I had the thing written out. And my idea was, ‘Okay, Steve had a great life.’
“I knew him a little. I wish I’d known him better. But he was a very accepting guy, a very philosophical guy, very spiritual, and I figured he’s he’s thinking, ‘I’ve had a great life and I’ve done some great stuff. You know, I’m really grateful… but I’m realising now I’m hearing my angels calling me, so I’m really realising it's time for me to go. But I’m okay. I’m all right about that. I’m ready to go. I’ve done great stuff, and I’m hearing my angels. They can take me away. They’re going to take me to heaven. So what could be bad about that? So this is a happy song, really.’”
The result is My Angels Are Calling. It features on the recently released Steve Cropper & The Midnight Hour album Watching The Tide. The album’s title quotes the lyric to (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay, as do the lyrics May wrote for My Angels Are Calling.
“I figured he would be taken away to the place where he feels like he’s in heaven,” May says. “He’s back at his favourite moment in time, sitting on the dock of the bay.”
Speaking on behalf of countless guitarists, May concludes with a smile: “Steve, oh boy! If it hadn’t been for you, I don’t think any of us would really have been here doing what we're doing.”
