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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 artist, who performed on and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, succumbed this past Wednesday in the city of Nashville.

Considered among the greatest backing bands in the history of soul music, the group the MGs was the core musical unit of the historic Memphis label Stax 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 late 1970s and performed on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a cherished artist, writer, and producer whose immense talent inspired generations around the world," his family said in a statement.

"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a loved one and companion, we take solace knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they added.

A cause of death was not disclosed.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music.

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

An Illustrious Journey

Ranked the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper began working at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were formed, featuring organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.

The band was honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

"I've always seen myself as a rhythm player," Cropper explained in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They refuse to play the same riff twice."

In addition to being 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 available information, he was "a part of virtually every record put out by Stax from late 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would literally spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a very hectic schedule."