🔗 Share this article Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, member of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84 Steve Cropper formed the backbone of the resident musical group of the influential Memphis label Stax Records. Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84. The musician, who contributed to and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died recently in the city of Nashville. Often cited among the best backing bands in the history of soul music, the quartet Booker T & the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax and is best remembered for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions. Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and played on their hit cover of Soul Man. "Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose immense talent touched generations around the world," his family said in a statement. "While we feel sorrow for the loss of a loved one and companion, we are consoled knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they noted. A specific cause was not released at this time. A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new music. "He's such a good human," Gore commented. "We were lucky to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, pictured on the right, with fellow musicians Sheryl Crow and Eddie Floyd. A Prolific Career Ranked the number two guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20. A year later, the MGs came together, featuring organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964. The band was entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. "I've always considered myself to be a rhythm guitarist," Cropper explained in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They won't even play the same riff twice." Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood. According to historical accounts, he was "integral to virtually every record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through 1970". "We would literally spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."