🔗 Share this article Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, member of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, has passed away aged 84 Steve Cropper was part of the house band of the seminal Memphis label Stax Records. Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has left us at the age of 84. The guitar virtuoso, who contributed to and co-wrote the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away this past Wednesday in Nashville. Considered among the best backing bands in soul music, the quartet Booker T & the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax and is most famous for their classic 1962 track Green Onions. Cropper went on to join the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and featured on their popular rendition of Soul Man. "Steve was a deeply admired musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent inspired millions of lives around the world," his family said in a message. "While we mourn the loss of a family man and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they noted. A specific cause was not released at this time. 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 commented. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, pictured on the right, with fellow musicians Sheryl Crow and Eddie Floyd. A Prolific Career Ranked the second-best guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax Records 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 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 seen myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper said 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 vastly creative songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood. According to available information, he was "integral to nearly all record released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970". "We would often spend long days in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a pretty busy schedule."