Steve Cropper, member of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84

Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.

The musician, who contributed to and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died on Wednesday in the city of Nashville.

Considered among the finest supporting groups in soul music, the four-piece band Booker T & the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is primarily known for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and played on their hit cover of Soul Man.

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

"While we feel sorrow for 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 immediately known.

An associate, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new music.

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

A Storied Musical Path

Named the second-best guitarist of all time by a British music magazine 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 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 thought of myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They won't even play the same lick twice."

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

According to available information, he was "involved in the majority of record issued by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would truly spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had nearly 20 artists signed to the label, so we had a very hectic schedule."