🔗 Share this article Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, guitarist of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, dies at the age of 84 Steve Cropper served as a key member of the in-house studio band of the influential Memphis label Stax Records. Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84. The musician, who performed on and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died on Wednesday in the city of Nashville. Often cited among the best supporting groups in the history of soul music, the group Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the house band of the influential Memphis label Stax Records and is primarily known for their 1962 track Green Onions. Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and featured on their hit cover of Soul Man. "Steve was a cherished musician, songwriter, and producer whose profound talent touched millions of lives around the world," his family stated in a release. "While we feel sorrow for the loss of a loved one and companion, we take solace knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they continued. A specific cause was not released at this time. A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs. "He's such a kind human," Gore remarked. "We were lucky to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, right, with peers Sheryl Crow and Eddie Floyd. A Prolific Career Named the second-best guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20. A year later, the MGs came together, featuring keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964. The band was entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. "I've always seen myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper remarked 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 are reluctant to repeat the same lick twice." Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and in addition to Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood. According to historical accounts, he was "a part of nearly all record released by Stax from 1961 through the end of 1970". "We would often spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists on the roster, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."