🔗 Share this article The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, guitarist of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84 Steve Cropper served as a key member of the resident musical group of the influential Memphis label Stax Records. Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84. The artist, who performed on and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died recently in Nashville. Considered among the greatest studio bands in soul and R&B, the group Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous 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 profound talent inspired countless people around the world," his family expressed 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 cause of death was not disclosed. An associate, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new songs. "He's such a wonderful human," Gore remarked. "We were blessed to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, right, with peers Eddie Floyd and Sheryl Crow. An Illustrious Journey Voted the number two guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20. A year later, the MGs were founded, featuring 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 rhythm guitarist," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They are reluctant to repeat the same phrase twice." As well as 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 the majority of record released by Stax from late 1961 through the end of 1970". "We would literally spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a pretty busy schedule."