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

The musician, who played on and helped pen 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.

Widely regarded among the greatest backing bands in soul and R&B, the group Booker T & the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax/Volt and is most famous for their 1962 track Green Onions.

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

"Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose profound talent inspired millions of lives around the world," his family said in a statement.

"While we mourn the loss of a loved one and companion, we find comfort knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they noted.

A specific cause was not immediately known.

An associate, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music.

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

A Storied Musical Path

Named the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax 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 considered myself to be a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper explained in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They won't even 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 collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to available information, he was "integral to nearly all record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would literally spend long days in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had nearly 20 artists we worked with, so we had a very hectic schedule."