đź”— Share this article Steve Cropper, member of Booker T and the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84 Steve Cropper was part of the house band of the seminal Memphis label Stax Records. The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has left us at the age of 84. The musician, who played on and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away this past Wednesday in Music City, Nashville. Widely regarded among the greatest studio bands in soul music, the four-piece band the MGs was the house band of the historic Memphis label Stax/Volt and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions. Cropper later became a member of the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and performed on their popular rendition of Soul Man. "Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose immense talent touched countless people around the world," his family stated in a statement. "While we feel sorrow for the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they added. A cause of death was not released at this time. A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing fresh material. "He's such a good human," Gore commented. "We were lucky to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, right, with fellow musicians Eddie Floyd and Sheryl Crow. A Prolific Career Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper began working at the Stax label 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 honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. "I've always seen myself as a rhythm player," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They won't even play the same riff twice." In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood. According to historical accounts, he was "integral to virtually every record issued by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970". "We would literally spend long days in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had a roster of artists signed to the label, so we had a pretty busy schedule."