🔗 Share this article Steve Cropper, member of Booker T and the MGs, has died at the age of 84 Steve Cropper formed the backbone of the in-house studio band of the seminal Memphis label Stax Records. The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with Booker T and 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, succumbed recently in Nashville. Considered among the greatest backing bands in the history of soul music, the group Booker T & the MGs was the house band of the influential Memphis label Stax Records and is best remembered for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions. Cropper later became a member of the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and featured on their popular rendition of Soul Man. "Steve was a cherished musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent touched generations around the world," his family expressed in a release. "While we grieve the loss of a family man and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they added. A cause of death was not immediately known. A colleague, 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 blessed to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, right, with fellow musicians Eddie Floyd and Sheryl Crow. A Prolific Career 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 were formed, consisting of keyboardist 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 get off on the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They won't even play the same riff twice." Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood. According to historical accounts, he was "integral to nearly all record put out by Stax from 1961 through year end 1970". "We would literally spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."