🔗 Share this article Steve Cropper, musician of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84 Steve Cropper served as a key member of the in-house studio band of the pioneering Memphis label Stax Records. The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has left us at the age of 84. The musician, who contributed to and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away on Wednesday in the city of Nashville. Considered among the best supporting groups in soul and R&B, the four-piece band Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax and is primarily known for their classic 1962 track Green Onions. Cropper went on to join the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man. "Steve was a cherished guitarist, composer, and producer whose immense talent impacted generations around the world," his family expressed in a message. "While we feel sorrow for the loss of a family man and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they noted. A cause of death was not released at this time. A colleague, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs. "He's such a good human," Gore remarked. "We were blessed to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, pictured on the right, with fellow musicians Eddie Floyd and Sheryl Crow. A Storied Musical Path Named the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper started his career at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20. A year later, the MGs were founded, comprising keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964. The band was honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. "I've always thought of myself as a rhythm player," Cropper explained in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They are reluctant to repeat the same lick twice." As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood. According to historical accounts, he was "a part of nearly all record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970". "We would often spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."