🔗 Share this article Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, member of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, dies aged 84 Steve Cropper was part of the house band of the influential Memphis label Stax Records. The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84. The musician, who performed on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away this past Wednesday in Nashville. Widely regarded among the finest backing bands in soul music, the four-piece band the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is primarily known for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions. Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and featured on their hit cover of Soul Man. "Steve was a deeply admired musician, songwriter, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched generations around the world," his family expressed in a statement. "While we feel sorrow for the loss of a family man and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they added. A reason for his passing was not immediately known. A colleague, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing fresh material. "He's such a good human," Gore said. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, right, with artists Sheryl Crow and Eddie Floyd. A Prolific Career Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20. A year later, the MGs came together, consisting of 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 thought of myself as a rhythm player," Cropper said in a past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They refuse to play the same riff twice." Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood. According to his official biography, he was "involved in the majority of record released by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970". "We would literally spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had nearly 20 artists on the roster, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."