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Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.

The musician, who played on and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away this past Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.

Often cited among the greatest studio bands in soul and R&B, the four-piece band Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the historic Memphis label Stax and is best remembered for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and played on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a cherished musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent inspired countless people around the world," his family expressed in a message.

"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they added.

A reason for his passing was not immediately known.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating fresh material.

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

A Prolific Career

Voted the number two guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper first found employment at the Stax label 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 replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.

The band was entered into 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 consistently, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They refuse to play the same phrase twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and in addition to 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 "integral to virtually every record put out by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would truly spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a very hectic schedule."