🔗 Share this article Steve Cropper, guitarist of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, dies at the age of 84 Steve Cropper formed the backbone of the house band of the influential Memphis label Stax Records. Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has died at the age of 84. The musician, who performed on and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died recently in Music City, Nashville. Often cited among the best backing bands in soul and R&B, the quartet the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax 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 1970s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man. "Steve was a deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose profound talent impacted generations around the world," his family expressed in a statement. "While we feel sorrow for the loss of a loved one and companion, we take solace knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they added. A cause of death was not released at this time. An associate, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing fresh material. "He's such a good human," Gore said. "We were lucky to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, right, with fellow musicians Eddie Floyd and Sheryl Crow. An Illustrious Journey Ranked the number two guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper began working 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 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 previous conversation. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They are reluctant to repeat the same riff twice." Not only was he 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 his official biography, he was "integral to nearly all record put out by Stax from late 1961 through 1970". "We would literally spend long days in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."