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The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.

The musician, who performed on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died recently in the city of Nashville.

Considered among the finest supporting groups in the history of soul music, the four-piece band Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the house band of the historic Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and performed on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose profound talent impacted countless people around the world," his family stated in a message.

"While we grieve the loss of a loved one and companion, we are consoled knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they noted.

A specific cause was not released at this time.

A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music.

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

A Prolific Career

Named the second-best guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs came together, featuring organist 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 thought of myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They won't even play the same lick twice."

In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a productive 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 historical accounts, he was "involved in nearly all record released by Stax from 1961 through 1970".

"We would literally spend long days in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists on the roster, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."