🔗 Share this article The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, member of the famed band Booker T & 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. Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84. The guitar virtuoso, who performed on and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away on Wednesday in Music City, Nashville. Often cited among the best supporting groups in soul and R&B, the quartet Booker T & the MGs was the core musical unit of the historic Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous for their 1962 track Green Onions. Cropper went on to join the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and played on their popular rendition of Soul Man. "Steve was a deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose immense talent inspired countless people around the world," his family expressed in a statement. "While we feel sorrow for the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted. A specific cause was not disclosed. An associate, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing fresh material. "He's such a kind human," Gore remarked. "We were blessed to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, right, with fellow musicians Sheryl Crow and Eddie Floyd. A Storied Musical Path Named the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax 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 replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. "I've always considered myself to be a rhythm guitarist," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They won't even play the same lick twice." In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and in addition to Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood. According to available information, he was "involved in virtually every record released by Stax from 1961 through year end 1970". "We would literally spend long days in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists on the roster, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."