🔗 Share this article Steve Cropper, musician of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has passed away aged 84 Steve Cropper was part of the resident musical group of the influential Memphis label Stax Records. The legendary guitarist 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 co-wrote the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away recently 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/Volt and is most famous for their classic 1962 track Green Onions. Cropper went on to join the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man. "Steve was a cherished artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted generations around the world," his family stated in a statement. "While we feel sorrow for the loss of a loved one and companion, we are consoled knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted. A reason for his passing was not released at this time. A colleague, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new music. "He's such a good human," Gore commented. "We were lucky to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, right, with peers Sheryl Crow and Eddie Floyd. A Storied Musical Path Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper started his career at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20. A year later, the MGs were formed, comprising keyboardist 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 player," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They refuse to play the same lick twice." Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood. According to his official biography, he was "integral to nearly all record released by Stax from late 1961 through the end of 1970". "We would literally spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists on the roster, so we had a pretty busy schedule."