🔗 Share this article Steve Cropper, member of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died aged 84 Steve Cropper formed the backbone of the house band of the seminal Memphis label Stax Records. Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84. The musician, who performed on and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away on Wednesday in Nashville. Often cited among the finest backing bands in soul music, the group the MGs was the house band of the historic Memphis label Stax Records and is best remembered for their 1962 track Green Onions. Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and played on their successful version of Soul Man. "Steve was a cherished artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent inspired generations around the world," his family expressed in a statement. "While we feel sorrow for the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they continued. A cause of death was not disclosed. A colleague, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music. "He's such a good human," Gore commented. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, right, with peers Eddie Floyd and Sheryl Crow. A Prolific Career Ranked the second-best guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper first found employment at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20. A year later, the MGs were founded, consisting of keyboardist 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 guitarist," Cropper explained in a past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They won't even play the same phrase twice." In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and alongside 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 "involved in nearly all record put out by Stax from late 1961 through 1970". "We would truly spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."