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 Motor for 53 million (US$97 million). Nanjing Automobile formally established NAC MG UK Limited as a holding company for the plant and marque on 12 April 2006. In March 2007, Nanjing Automobile unveiled the first MG vehicles manufactured in China, the MG TF, MG 3 and MG 7. Assembly of cars restarted at Longbridge in August 2007, with production of the MG TF LE500. In 2007, Nanjing Automobile was acquired by SAIC Motor, and in early 2009 "NAC MG UK Limited" was renamed "MG Motor UK Limited". The first all-new model from MG for 16 years, the MG6, was officially launched