Booker T. & the M.G.'s to give each other three months to finish up all of their individual projects. They would then devote three years to what would be renamed "Booker T. Jones & the Memphis Group". Nine days later (October 1), Al Jackson, the man Cropper would remember as "the greatest drummer to ever walk the earth", was murdered in his home. The remaining three members and drummer Willie Hall (a session musician who had played on many Stax hits, such as Isaac Hayes's "Theme from "Shaft"") regrouped under their old name, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, and recorded the album "Universal Language" for
MG F / MG TF a revised grille, redesigned front headlights, bumpers, side air-intake grills, rear boot, etc. It held a decent amount of sales despite problems including uneven shut lines on the drivers door on models for the United Kingdom. Production was suspended in April 2005, when MG Rover collapsed. 39,249 MG TFs were built from 2002 until 2005. The MG TF was assessed with four star safety performance from Euro NCAP and ANCAP. In March 2007, Nanjing Automobile Group, which bought MG Rover's remaining assets during bankruptcy proceedings, restarted production of the MG TF at its Nanjing factory, with a capacity of 200,000