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

The musician, who contributed to and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away recently in Music City, Nashville.

Considered among the finest studio bands in soul music, the group Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the house band of the influential Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper went on to join the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose profound talent impacted countless people around the world," his family said in a message.

"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they noted.

A reason for his passing was not released at this time.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating fresh material.

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

A Prolific Career

Ranked the second-best guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were formed, 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 honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

"I've always considered myself to be a rhythm guitarist," Cropper said in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same riff twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to historical accounts, he was "involved in the majority of record put out by Stax from 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would literally spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had nearly 20 artists signed to the label, so we had a very hectic schedule."