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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 performed on and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died recently in the city of Nashville.

Considered among the best supporting groups in the history of soul music, the group Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the historic Memphis label Stax Records and is best remembered for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and performed on their successful version of Soul Man.

"Steve was a cherished artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent touched countless people around the world," his family expressed in a statement.

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

A specific cause was not immediately known.

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

"He's such a good human," Gore remarked. "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 started his career at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs came together, consisting of 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 considered myself to be a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper explained in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They refuse to play the same riff twice."

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

According to his official biography, he was "a part of nearly all record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through 1970".

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