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The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.

The artist, who contributed to 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.

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

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

"Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent inspired generations around the world," his family expressed in a statement.

"While we mourn the loss of a family man and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted.

A specific cause was not disclosed.

A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing fresh material.

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

A Prolific Career

Ranked the second-best guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper first found employment at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were founded, featuring organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced 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 player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper said in a past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat 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 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would often spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a pretty busy schedule."