🔗 Share this article Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, member of Booker T and the MGs, has died at the age of 84 Steve Cropper was part of the resident musical group of the pioneering Memphis label Stax Records. The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84. The guitar virtuoso, who played on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died this past Wednesday in the city of Nashville. Widely regarded among the finest studio bands in the history of soul music, the group the MGs was the resident studio band of the influential Memphis label Stax and is primarily known for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions. Cropper went on to join the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their hit cover of Soul Man. "Steve was a cherished artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted generations around the world," his family expressed in a release. "While we mourn the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they added. A specific cause was not immediately known. An associate, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new music. "He's such a kind human," Gore commented. "We were blessed to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, right, with fellow musicians Eddie Floyd and Sheryl Crow. An Illustrious Journey Ranked the second-best guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper started his career at the Stax label 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 replaced 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 enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They won't even play the same phrase twice." As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood. According to available information, he was "a part of nearly all record released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through 1970". "We would literally spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had nearly 20 artists signed to the label, so we had a very hectic schedule."