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The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with Booker T and 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 the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away recently in the city of Nashville.

Widely regarded among the best studio bands in soul music, the four-piece band Booker T & the MGs was the house band of the historic Memphis label Stax Records and is best remembered 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 hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted generations around the world," his family stated in a message.

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

A specific cause was not disclosed.

A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs.

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

A Prolific Career

Ranked 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 were founded, comprising organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced 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 player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper said in a past interview. "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 are reluctant to repeat the same lick twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and alongside 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 "integral to nearly all record issued 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 a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."