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

Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has died 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 the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died recently in Music City, Nashville.

Widely regarded among the finest studio bands in soul and R&B, the four-piece band the MGs was the resident studio band of the influential Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

Cropper went on to join the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and played on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose immense talent inspired countless people around the world," his family expressed in a release.

"While we mourn the loss of a family man and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they noted.

A reason for his passing was not disclosed.

A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new music.

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

A Storied Musical Path

Ranked the number two guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were formed, comprising keyboardist 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 seen myself as a rhythm player," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They refuse to play the same phrase twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to available information, he was "a part of virtually every record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 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 very hectic schedule."