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

The artist, who contributed to and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away recently in Nashville.

Considered among the finest studio bands in soul music, the four-piece band Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the historic Memphis label Stax Records and is best remembered for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

Cropper went on to join the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man.

"Steve was a cherished guitarist, composer, and producer whose profound talent impacted countless people around the world," his family expressed in a statement.

"While we mourn the loss of a family man and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they noted.

A cause of death was not released at this time.

An associate, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating fresh material.

"He's such a good 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 British music magazine in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax 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 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 seen myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They refuse to play the same riff twice."

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

According to available information, he was "involved in nearly all record released by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would literally spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had nearly 20 artists signed to the label, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."