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The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.

The guitar virtuoso, who played on and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died this past Wednesday in Nashville.

Widely regarded among the greatest supporting groups in soul music, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is primarily known for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

Cropper went on to join the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and featured on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent touched generations around the world," his family expressed in a message.

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

A reason for his passing was not released at this time.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on fresh material.

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

A Prolific Career

Named the number two guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.

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

As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to his official biography, he was "involved in virtually every record released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through 1970".

"We would often spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had nearly 20 artists we worked with, so we had a very hectic schedule."