🔗 Share this article The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, guitarist of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died 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 acclaimed guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84. The artist, who played on and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, succumbed recently in the city of Nashville. Often cited among the best backing bands in soul and R&B, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax/Volt and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions. Cropper also joined the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and played on their popular rendition of Soul Man. "Steve was a beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched countless people around the world," his family said in a statement. "While we feel sorrow for the loss of a loved one and companion, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted. A specific cause was not released at this time. A colleague, 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 said. "We were blessed to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, right, with artists Sheryl Crow and Eddie Floyd. An Illustrious Journey Ranked the number two guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper first found employment at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20. A year later, the MGs were founded, comprising organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced 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 rhythm guitarist," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They refuse to play the same lick twice." Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and in addition to 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 "integral to virtually every record released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through 1970". "We would truly spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had nearly 20 artists signed to the label, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."