Booker T. & the M.G.'s was an American soul and R&B band from the 1960s. Keyboardist Booker T. Jones and guitarist Steve Cropper (of The Mar-Keys) began working together at Stax Records as session musicians. After adding Al Jackson (drums) and Lewis Steinberg (bass guitar) formed the first complete line-up. Donald Dunn (also of the Mar-Keys) soon replaced Steinberg, in time for the band's biggest hit, 1962's "Green Onions".
In the late 1960s, the band released a series of hits including "Time Is Tight" and "Soul-Limbo". Perhaps most notably, Booker T. & the M.G.'s were an interracial soul band that released serious full-length albums during the 1960s. In spite of the steady string of hits, the band broke up in 1971 and attempted to reform in 1975, when Al Jackson was killed by a burglar in his home. The other members have been active in the music community, with Cropper and Dunn joining The Blues Brothers for a brief period. They also served as the back-up band for Neil Young tour in 1993, leading to brief renaissance that the remaining members were unable to maintain.
In the novel Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert A. Heinlein, Mr. Booker T. W. Jones was an astronaut that died on the planet Mars.
Booker T is also the name of a popular WWE wrestler. Gifted with extraordinarally long legs, he showcases them with his scisor kicks and his break-dance like Spinarooni. Booker T was the WCW champion five times.
