Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, musician of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has passed away aged 84

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 artist, who performed on and collaborated on writing the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, succumbed on Wednesday in Nashville.

Considered among the greatest supporting groups in soul music, the quartet Booker T & the MGs was the house band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous for their 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 beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose immense talent inspired millions of lives around the world," his family expressed in a message.

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

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

A friend, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs.

"He's such a good human," Gore remarked. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."

A Prolific Career

Voted the number two guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper began working at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs came together, consisting of keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded 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 seen myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They won't even play the same riff twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a productive 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 "integral to the majority of record released by Stax from 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would literally spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had nearly 20 artists signed to the label, so we had a very hectic schedule."