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

Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.

The musician, who performed on and collaborated on writing the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, succumbed recently in Music City, Nashville.

Widely regarded among the finest studio bands in soul and R&B, the quartet Booker T & the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax/Volt and is best remembered for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

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

"Steve was a deeply admired musician, songwriter, and producer whose profound talent impacted countless people around the world," his family expressed in a release.

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

A reason for his passing was not released at this time.

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

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

A Storied Musical Path

Voted the number two guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs came together, comprising organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded 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 seen myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same lick twice."

As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to available information, he was "involved in the majority of record issued by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would often spend long days in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a pretty busy schedule."