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

The guitar virtuoso, who contributed to and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away on Wednesday in the city of Nashville.

Widely regarded among the best backing bands in soul music, the group the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is primarily known for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper later became a member of the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and played on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired musician, songwriter, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted generations around the world," his family said in a release.

"While we grieve the loss of a loved one and companion, we take solace knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they noted.

A cause of death was not released at this time.

An associate, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing fresh material.

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

An Illustrious Journey

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

A year later, the MGs were founded, consisting of keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

"I've always seen myself as a rhythm player," Cropper said in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They won't even play the same phrase twice."

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

According to his official biography, he was "a part of virtually every record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would often spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had a roster of artists we worked with, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."