🔗 Share this article The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, guitarist of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has passed away aged 84 Steve Cropper was part of the house band of the pioneering Memphis label Stax Records. The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84. The guitar virtuoso, who performed on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died recently in Music City, Nashville. Considered among the greatest supporting groups in soul music, the group Booker T & the MGs was the house band of the historic Memphis label Stax and is primarily known for their 1962 track Green Onions. Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and performed on their popular rendition of Soul Man. "Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose immense talent touched millions of lives around the world," his family said in a release. "While we grieve the loss of a loved one and companion, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they continued. A specific cause was not disclosed. An associate, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs. "He's such a kind human," Gore remarked. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, right, with peers Sheryl Crow and Eddie Floyd. A Storied Musical Path Named the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20. A year later, the MGs were formed, 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 honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. "I've always considered myself to be a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They refuse to play the same phrase twice." Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and alongside 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 "involved in nearly all record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970". "We would truly spend long days in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists we worked with, so we had a pretty busy schedule."