🔗 Share this article Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, guitarist of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84 Steve Cropper was part of the in-house studio band of the pioneering Memphis label Stax Records. Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has died at the age of 84. The musician, who contributed to and co-wrote the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, succumbed recently in Nashville. Widely regarded among the best backing bands in the history of soul music, the four-piece band the MGs was the core musical unit of the historic Memphis label Stax Records and is best remembered for their 1962 track Green Onions. Cropper later became a member of the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and featured on their popular rendition of Soul Man. "Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent impacted millions of lives around the world," his family expressed in a release. "While we grieve the loss of a family man and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they added. A specific cause was not immediately known. A friend, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new songs. "He's such a wonderful human," Gore commented. "We were lucky to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, pictured on the right, with artists Eddie Floyd and Sheryl Crow. A Prolific Career 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 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 honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. "I've always considered myself to be a rhythm player," Cropper said in a past interview. "I get off on 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 riff twice." In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood. According to his official biography, he was "a part of the majority of record released by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970". "We would truly spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had nearly 20 artists on the roster, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."