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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 artist, who performed on and co-wrote the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away recently in the city of Nashville.

Often cited among the best supporting groups in soul music, the group Booker T & the MGs was the core musical unit of the historic Memphis label Stax and is primarily known for their 1962 track Green Onions.

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

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

"While we grieve the loss of a family man and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they added.

A cause of death was not disclosed.

A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new music.

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

A Prolific Career

Voted the second-best 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 formed, comprising keyboardist 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 rhythm guitarist," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same phrase twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and in addition to Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to available information, he was "integral to nearly all record put out by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would often spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists we worked with, so we had a very hectic schedule."