Posthumous Steve Cropper album announced featuring Eric Clapton

Steve Cropper’s final studio album will be released later this year, featuring appearances from some of rock and blues’ biggest names, including Eric Clapton, Brian May, Billy Gibbons, and Ronnie Wood.

Steve Cropper & The Midnight Hour will release Watching The Tide on August 28 via Provogue/Artone Label Group. The album arrives following Cropper’s passing in December 2025.

The first single from the album, “Ticket First,” features Clapton on guitar. The song originated from a joke Cropper shared with songwriter and producer Jon Tiven.

“Steve had a joke about a woman who rubs a magic lamp. The genie comes out and says, ‘You’ve got one wish’. The woman says, ‘I want to win the lottery’. And the genie says, ‘Sorry, you’ve got to get a ticket first’. When Roger and I heard that, we said, ‘Oh, that’s a song title’. I sent out some emails to guitar players I knew who had a great affinity for Steve and two days later, I got an email back from Eric Clapton’s manager, saying he’d be in Nashville for a concert and could we do it then. He did, I believe, 11 takes on guitar. At the end, Steve and I looked at each other and said, ‘Man, you just turned the song inside out. I think we’re gonna have to give you a writer’s credit’. Eric looked pretty stunned by that. And he said: ‘Well, anything to get my name next to Steve Cropper’s…’”

Tiven said Cropper was eager to make another album following the success of 2024’s Grammy-nominated Friendlytown.

“Making music was Steve’s greatest joy,” explained Tiven. “Steve was so encouraged by Friendlytown. He was adamant he wanted to do another record.”

The album was recorded at Nashville’s RCA Studio C and features Midnight Hour vocalist Roger C. Reale, Ana Grosh on vocals, Nioshi Jackson on drums, and Eddie Gore on keys and percussion.

According to the press release, the album title references Cropper’s co-write of Otis Redding’s classic “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay.”

Additional guest appearances include May and Gibbons on the song “My Angels Are Calling,” while Wood contributes slide guitar to “Until Now.” Tiven also performs lead guitar on “Blood From A Stone” and “Here & Gone.”

“Brian is singing from Steve’s point of view,” says Tiven of the Queen guitarist’s contribution to “My Angels Are Calling,” “looking back over his life and his road. It’s very powerful.”

Tiven also praised vocalist Ana Grosh, who appears on “Here & Gone” and “Stand Right Here.”

“We met Ana at the Grammys and I heard immediately that this 21-year-old had something,” recalls Tiven.

Tiven said Cropper was able to hear nearly the entire finished album before his death.

“I finished the mixes about a week-and-a-half before Steve passed and we brought a CD to him at the medical facility,” remembers Tiven. “He called me the night before he passed to tell me how much he loved it. He was playing it for everyone who came to visit him, telling them it was the best record he’d ever made.”

“I know this record provided great joy to Steve in the last year of his life,” says Tiven. “And I’m so glad he was able to have this great creative burst that was so strong…”

TRACK LIST

Tandoori Chicken
Ticket First (feat. Eric Clapton)
My Angels Are Calling (feat. Brian May & Billy F. Gibbons)
Until Now (feat. Ron Wood)
Blood From A Stone
Here & Gone (feat. Ana Grosh)
It’s Gonna Get Worse
Down & Out
Stand Right Here (feat. Billy F. Gibbons & Ana Grosh)
Tipoff To The Ripoff
House Of Cards
Tandoori Chicken Part 2

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