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

Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.

The guitar virtuoso, 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 on Wednesday in Nashville.

Widely regarded among the finest studio bands in soul music, the group Booker T & the MGs was the house band of the historic Memphis label Stax/Volt 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 featured on their hit cover of Soul Man.

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

"While we mourn the loss of a loved one and companion, we take solace knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they continued.

A cause of death was not immediately known.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing fresh material.

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

A Storied Musical Path

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

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

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

"I've always thought of myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper said in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They refuse to play the same riff twice."

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

According to his official biography, he was "involved in the majority of record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through 1970".

"We would truly spend long days in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists we worked with, so we had a very hectic schedule."