Bass Legend Donald 'Duck' Dunn Dies

The music star was found dead on Sunday morning (13May12) in his hotel room in Tokyo, Japan. His friend and MGs guitarist Steve Cropper confirmed the news on his Facebook.com page, claiming that Dunn had died in his sleep.

Dunn was in Tokyo for a series of gigs, and had earlier performed at the Blue Note Night Club.

In the Facebook post, Cropper wrote, "Today I lost my best friend, the world has lost the best guy and bass player to ever live."

Dunn was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1941, and joined Booker T. and the MGs in 1964 following the departure of bassist Lewie Steinberg. He played on many classic soul tracks including Otis Redding's Respect after the MGs became the house band for legendary music label Stax Records.

After the group disbanded in 1971, he went on to become a hugely successful session bass player, working with some of the biggest names in music including Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Muddy Waters.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and received a lifetime achievement Grammy Award in 2007.