🔗 Share this article Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, member of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, dies aged 84 Steve Cropper was part of the resident musical group of the influential Memphis label Stax Records. Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84. The guitar virtuoso, who contributed to and co-wrote 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. Considered among the greatest studio bands in soul music, the group the MGs was the house band of the historic Memphis label Stax/Volt and is best remembered for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions. Cropper also joined the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their popular rendition of Soul Man. "Steve was a deeply admired musician, songwriter, and producer whose extraordinary talent inspired generations around the world," his family stated in a release. "While we mourn the loss of a family man and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted. A specific cause was not released at this time. A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new songs. "He's such a good human," Gore commented. "We were lucky to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, pictured on the right, with peers Eddie Floyd and Sheryl Crow. A Storied Musical Path Ranked the number two guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper started his career at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20. A year later, the MGs were formed, 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 considered myself to be a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They refuse to play the same lick 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 co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood. According to his official biography, he was "involved in nearly all record released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970". "We would literally spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a pretty busy schedule."