( CNN ) -- Donald `` Duck '' Dunn , the bass player who laid the musical floor beneath soul legends like Booker T. and the MGs , Sam and Dave and Otis Redding , has died at age 70 , his family announced Sunday . Dunn was part of the house band at Memphis , Tennessee 's Stax Records , the R & B powerhouse that turned out hits like `` ( Sittin ' on ) the Dock of the Bay , '' `` In the Midnight Hour '' and `` Soul Man . '' He was also a member of the Blues Brothers , the band that backed up comedians John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd in their `` Saturday Night Live '' appearances and film . `` Duck Dunn was the backbone of the Stax/Volt era , '' Aykroyd said in a written statement . `` He was and will remain universally loved by all that knew him . His talent , knowledge and warmth , and especially his humor will be greatly missed . '' Dunn died in his sleep in Tokyo after playing dates that had been postponed after the 2011 Japanese earthquake , his son told CNN . `` They were over there doing five shows in a row , two shows every night -- and for a 70-year-old guy , that was quite a bit of work , '' Jeff Dunn said . The musician had gone back to his hotel after their last show and died before catching a flight back to the United States , his son said . Dunn was touring Japan with two fellow Stax veterans , singer Eddie Floyd and guitarist Steve Cropper . In a statement on his website , Cropper said , `` Today I lost my best friend , and the world has lost the best guy and bass player to ever live . '' Cropper and Dunn were high school classmates who joined Stax in the early 1960s to play with Booker T. and the MGs , which underpinned the label 's lineup . The group 's leader , Booker T. Jones , mourned Dunn in a statement on his own website , saying , `` It was totally unexpected , and I 've rarely had tears come so quickly . '' When Stax folded in the mid-1970s , Dunn and Cropper became top session players , Dunn played with Eric Clapton , Bob Dylan and Levon Helm , the former lead singer of The Band , who died in April . Dunn was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Booker T. and the MGs in 1992 , and they received a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2007 . Jeff Dunn said the family had no information about the cause of death . A memorial service will be held in Memphis at a yet-to-be-determined date , he said . People we 've lost in 2012 : The lives they lived . CNN 's Denise Quan and Matt Smith contributed to this report .
`` I 've rarely had tears come so quickly , '' Booker T. Jones says . Bass player `` Duck '' Dunn dies in Tokyo at age 70 . He was part of Booker T. and the MGs and the Blues Brothers . His credits include `` The Dock of the Bay '' and `` In the Midnight Hour ''