🔗 Share this article Steve Cropper, member of Booker T and the MGs, dies at the age of 84 Steve Cropper formed the backbone of the house band of the seminal Memphis label Stax Records. The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84. The artist, who played on and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died on Wednesday in Music City, Nashville. Widely regarded among the finest studio bands in soul and R&B, the four-piece band Booker T & the MGs was the core musical unit of the historic Memphis label Stax/Volt and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions. Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and played on their popular rendition of Soul Man. "Steve was a cherished musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent inspired generations around the world," his family expressed in a release. "While we mourn the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they noted. A reason for his passing was not immediately known. A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music. "He's such a wonderful human," Gore remarked. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, right, with fellow musicians Eddie Floyd and Sheryl Crow. A Storied Musical Path Voted the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper began working at the Stax label 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 inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. "I've always considered myself to be a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper explained in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They won't even play 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 historical accounts, he was "involved in the majority of record released by Stax from 1961 through 1970". "We would often 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 pretty busy schedule."