🔗 Share this article The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, musician of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84 Steve Cropper formed the backbone of the house band of the influential Memphis label Stax Records. Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84. The guitar virtuoso, who played on and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away on Wednesday in the city of Nashville. Often cited among the greatest studio bands in soul music, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax/Volt and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions. Cropper later became a member of the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and played on their hit cover of Soul Man. "Steve was a cherished artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent inspired generations around the world," his family said in a message. "While we mourn the loss of a family man and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they added. A reason for his passing was not disclosed. A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing fresh material. "He's such a wonderful human," Gore remarked. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, right, with peers Sheryl Crow and Eddie Floyd. A Prolific Career Voted the number two guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20. A year later, the MGs came together, comprising keyboardist 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 thought of myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They refuse to play the same lick twice." In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood. According to historical accounts, he was "involved in the majority of record issued by Stax from late 1961 through the end of 1970". "We would truly spend 15 hours a day 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."