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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 guitar virtuoso, who performed on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away on Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.

Considered among the best studio bands in soul and R&B, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the historic Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper later became a member of the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and played on their successful version of Soul Man.

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

"While we mourn the loss of a loved one and companion, we are consoled knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they added.

A reason for his passing was not disclosed.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing fresh material.

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

A Prolific Career

Named the number two guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were founded, comprising keyboardist 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 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 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 vastly creative songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to available information, he was "integral to virtually every record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would truly spend long days in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had nearly 20 artists on the roster, so we had a pretty busy schedule."