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The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.

The musician, who played on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away on Wednesday in Nashville.

Often cited among the best backing bands in soul and R&B, the group 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 went on to join the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and played on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent inspired generations around the world," his family stated in a message.

"While we grieve the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted.

A reason for his passing was not immediately known.

A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper just the day before 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."

An Illustrious Journey

Voted the second-best 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 were formed, comprising organist 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 thought of myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper said in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They won't even play the same lick twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and besides 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 virtually every record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would truly spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a pretty busy schedule."