🔗 Share this article The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, member of Booker T and the MGs, has died at the age of 84 Steve Cropper was part of the house band of the pioneering Memphis label Stax Records. Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84. The guitar virtuoso, who contributed to and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away recently in Music City, Nashville. Considered among the finest studio bands in soul music, the group Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the house band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is best remembered for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions. Cropper also joined the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man. "Steve was a deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted generations around the world," his family expressed in a message. "While we grieve the loss of a loved one and companion, we are consoled knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they noted. A cause of death was not disclosed. A colleague, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing fresh material. "He's such a wonderful human," Gore commented. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, right, with peers Sheryl Crow and Eddie Floyd. An Illustrious Journey Named the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20. A year later, the MGs were founded, featuring 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 player," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They refuse to play the same lick twice." Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood. According to his official biography, he was "involved in the majority of record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through 1970". "We would often spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had a roster of artists signed to the label, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."