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

The musician, who played on and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away this past Wednesday in Nashville.

Considered among the greatest backing bands in soul and R&B, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the influential Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

Cropper later became a member of the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and played on their successful version of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent impacted generations around the world," his family expressed in a message.

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

A specific cause was not released at this time.

An associate, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs.

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

An Illustrious Journey

Named the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs came together, featuring 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 thought of myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They refuse to play the same lick twice."

In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and in addition to Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to available information, he was "integral to virtually every record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would literally spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had nearly 20 artists on the roster, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."