🔗 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 house band of the pioneering Memphis label Stax Records. The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84. The musician, who contributed to 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 greatest studio bands in soul music, the four-piece band Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the house band of the historic Memphis label Stax/Volt and is most famous for their classic 1962 track Green Onions. Cropper later became a member of the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and performed on their hit cover of Soul Man. "Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched millions of lives around the world," his family expressed in a statement. "While we grieve the loss of a family man and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they added. A cause of death was not released at this time. An associate, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating fresh material. "He's such a good human," Gore remarked. "We were lucky to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, right, with artists Eddie Floyd and Sheryl Crow. An Illustrious Journey Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20. A year later, the MGs came together, consisting of 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 thought of myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper explained in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same lick twice." Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and in addition to 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 "involved in virtually every record released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970". "We would often spend long days in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists we worked with, so we had a very hectic schedule."