The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, musician of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84

The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has left us 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, passed away recently in the city of Nashville.

Widely regarded among the finest supporting groups in soul and R&B, the group the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax and is primarily known for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper went on to join the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and played on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose profound talent touched millions of lives around the world," his family stated in a release.

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

A cause of death was not immediately known.

A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned 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 said. "We were blessed to have him, for sure."

An Illustrious Journey

Voted the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax Records 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 considered myself to be a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper said in a past interview. "I take pride in 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 phrase 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 helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to historical accounts, he was "a part of nearly all record put out by Stax from late 1961 through 1970".

"We would truly spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had nearly 20 artists we worked with, so we had a pretty busy schedule."