Steve Cropper, guitarist of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84

The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.

The musician, who contributed to and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died on Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.

Widely regarded among the finest supporting groups in the history of soul music, the quartet the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is primarily known for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper later became a member of the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and performed on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired artist, writer, and producer whose immense talent inspired millions of lives around the world," his family expressed in a statement.

"While we grieve the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they added.

A cause of death was not disclosed.

A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on fresh material.

"He's such a kind human," Gore said. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."

An Illustrious Journey

Ranked the second-best guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were founded, consisting of 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 seen myself as a rhythm player," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They won't even play the same lick twice."

As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to his official biography, he was "involved in the majority of record released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would often spend long days in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had nearly 20 artists on the roster, so we had a pretty busy schedule."