🔗 Share this article The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, guitarist of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died aged 84 Steve Cropper served as a key member of the resident musical group of the pioneering Memphis label Stax Records. Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84. The guitar virtuoso, who played on and co-wrote the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, succumbed this past Wednesday in Nashville. Widely regarded among the best backing bands in the history of soul music, the group Booker T & the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is best remembered for their classic 1962 track Green Onions. Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and performed on their popular rendition of Soul Man. "Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose immense talent inspired countless people around the world," his family expressed in a release. "While we grieve the loss of a family man and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they continued. A reason for his passing was not released at this time. A colleague, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs. "He's such a good human," Gore commented. "We were blessed to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, pictured on the right, with artists Eddie Floyd and Sheryl Crow. A Storied Musical Path Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper first found employment at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20. A year later, the MGs were founded, comprising 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 considered myself to be a rhythm guitarist," Cropper said in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They refuse to play the same riff 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 collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood. According to his official biography, he was "a part of nearly all record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through 1970". "We would truly spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."