🔗 Share this article Steve Cropper, guitarist of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, has passed away aged 84 Steve Cropper served as a key member of the resident musical group of the seminal Memphis label Stax Records. Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84. The guitar virtuoso, who contributed to and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away this past Wednesday in the city of Nashville. Often cited among the best supporting groups in soul music, the group Booker T & the MGs was the house band of the historic Memphis label Stax/Volt and is primarily known for their 1962 track Green Onions. Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and performed on their hit cover of Soul Man. "Steve was a deeply admired artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent touched millions of lives around the world," his family expressed in a statement. "While we grieve the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they noted. A reason for his passing was not disclosed. A colleague, 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 said. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, right, with peers Sheryl Crow and Eddie Floyd. A Prolific Career Ranked the second-best guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20. A year later, the MGs came together, featuring organist 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 said in a past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something repeatedly, 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 prolific songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood. According to available information, he was "involved in nearly all record issued by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970". "We would literally spend long days in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists signed to the label, so we had a pretty busy schedule."