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

The musician, who contributed to and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, succumbed on Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.

Considered among the finest studio bands in soul music, the group Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax and is primarily known for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and played on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose profound talent inspired millions of lives around the world," his family said in a release.

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

A cause of death was not released at this time.

A friend, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs.

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

An Illustrious Journey

Voted the number two 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 came together, consisting of 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 guitarist," 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 are reluctant to repeat the same phrase twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to historical accounts, he was "a part of nearly all record released by Stax from 1961 through 1970".

"We would literally spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."