Steve Cropper, guitarist of Booker T and the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84

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

The artist, who performed on and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away recently in the city of Nashville.

Often cited among the greatest backing bands in soul music, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax/Volt and is most famous for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.

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

"Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent impacted countless people around the world," his family said in a release.

"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they noted.

A specific cause was not immediately known.

A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on fresh material.

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

A Prolific Career

Ranked the number two guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper began working at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were formed, consisting of organist 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 rhythm player," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They won't even play the same phrase twice."

In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and alongside 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 "integral to virtually every record put out by Stax from late 1961 through 1970".

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