Booker T. & The M.G.'s - 1980s To The Present

1980s To The Present

In 1980 the hit feature film The Blues Brothers featured Steve Cropper and Donald “Duck” Dunn as part of the primary band which backed up the Blues Brothers.

In 1986, former co-owner of Atlantic Records Jerry Wexler asked the group to be the house band for Atlantic Records' 40th anniversary celebration. The night before the gig, Booker T. Jones came down with food poisoning, so Paul Shaffer stepped in at the last minute. However, the rehearsals (with Jones, Cropper, Dunn, and drummer Anton Fig of Shaffer's “World's Most Dangerous Band”, featured on Late Night with David Letterman) went so well that the group decided to play some dates together.

Over the next few years, they played together occasionally. In 1992, Bob Dylan asked them to again serve as house band, this time at the concert commemorating his thirty years in the music business. There they backed up, among others, Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Johnny Cash, Eric Clapton, and George Harrison. While there, Neil Young asked the group to back him up on his world tour the following year.

Also in 1992, Booker T. & The M.G.'s were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In 1993, Booker T. & The M.G.'s toured with Neil Young, backing him on his own compositions.

In 1994, the group recorded its first album in 17 years, called That's the Way It Should Be. Steve Jordan was the featured drummer on most tracks.

In 1995, when the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame opened its museum in Cleveland, Ohio, the M.G.'s served as the house band for the opening ceremonies, playing behind Aretha Franklin, Sam Moore, John Fogerty, and Al Green, as well as performing themselves.

Jones, Dunn, and Al Jackson Jr.'s cousin, drummer Steve Potts, backed Neil Young on his 2002 album Are You Passionate?. Cropper, along with Isaac Hayes and Sam Moore, welcomed Stax president Jim Stewart into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Cropper and Hayes were later inducted in The Songwriters Hall of Fame. Booker T. & The M.G.'s, usually with Steve Potts on drums, still play select dates. They have been called the most influential stylists in modern American music. In early 2008 they toured with Australian singer Guy Sebastian in Australia on a sold-out tour.

In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked the group #93 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and in 2007, the group received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Also in 2004, Eric Clapton featured Booker T., Steve Cropper and Donald "Duck" Dunn as his house band for the first "Crossroads Guitar Festival". The event was held at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas and featured many of the legends of various musical genres who play guitar as their primary instrument. Booker T. and the MGs was the back up band for several great acts which Clapton presented "live" for that two day festival and subsequently on the 2 disc DVD version of the show.

On April 21, 2009, Booker T. released Potato Hole, a new album in collaboration with the band Drive-By Truckers and featuring Neil Young on guitar. And in May 2011, Jones released "The Road from Memphis", which won a Grammy Award.

On May 13, 2012, Donald "Duck" Dunn passed away following two concerts in Tokyo, Japan.