🔗 Share this article Steve Cropper, guitarist of Booker T and the MGs, dies at the age of 84 Steve Cropper was part of the in-house studio band of the pioneering Memphis label Stax Records. The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84. The guitar virtuoso, who performed on and collaborated on writing the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away recently in the city of Nashville. Considered among the finest backing bands in soul music, the four-piece band Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions. Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and performed on their popular rendition of Soul Man. "Steve was a deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose immense talent impacted generations around the world," his family said in a message. "While we grieve the loss of a loved one and companion, we find comfort knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they added. A cause of death was not released at this time. A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing fresh material. "He's such a wonderful human," Gore commented. "We were lucky to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, pictured on the right, with artists Sheryl Crow and Eddie Floyd. An Illustrious Journey Ranked the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20. A year later, the MGs came together, comprising organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. "I've always seen myself as a rhythm player," Cropper explained in a previous conversation. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They refuse to play the same phrase twice." Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood. According to historical accounts, he was "integral to nearly all record released by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970". "We would truly spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists on the roster, so we had a pretty busy schedule."