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Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.

The guitar virtuoso, who played on and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died recently in Music City, Nashville.

Considered among the greatest studio bands in soul and R&B, the four-piece band Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the house band of the historic Memphis label Stax and is primarily known for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper went on to join the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted generations around the world," his family stated in a statement.

"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they added.

A specific cause was not disclosed.

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

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

A Storied Musical Path

Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs came together, 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 seen myself as a rhythm player," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "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 won't even play the same phrase twice."

As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to historical accounts, he was "involved in virtually every record released by Stax from 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would often spend long days in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."