🔗 Share this article The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, musician of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died aged 84 Steve Cropper served as a key member of the in-house studio band of the seminal Memphis label Stax Records. Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has died at the age of 84. The musician, who played on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away this past Wednesday in the city of Nashville. Considered among the best backing bands in the history of soul music, the four-piece band the MGs was the house band of the historic Memphis label Stax Records and is best remembered for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions. Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and performed on their successful version of Soul Man. "Steve was a cherished artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent inspired millions of lives around the world," his family stated in a message. "While we mourn the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted. A reason for his passing was not disclosed. A colleague, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs. "He's such a kind human," Gore said. "We were lucky to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, pictured on the right, with artists Eddie Floyd and Sheryl Crow. A Storied Musical Path Ranked the number two guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20. A year later, the MGs came together, comprising keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. "I've always seen myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper said in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They won't even play the same lick twice." Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and besides 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 the majority of record released by Stax from late 1961 through 1970". "We would truly spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."