The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, member of Booker T and the MGs, dies aged 84

The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.

The musician, 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, passed away recently in Nashville.

Widely regarded among the finest studio bands in soul and R&B, the quartet Booker T & the MGs was the resident studio band of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is best remembered for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man.

"Steve was a cherished musician, songwriter, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted countless people around the world," his family said in a statement.

"While we mourn the loss of a loved one and companion, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they added.

A cause of death was not disclosed.

A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on fresh material.

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

A Storied Musical Path

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, comprising keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced 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 rhythm player," Cropper explained in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They refuse to play the same phrase twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on 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 the end of 1970".

"We would often spend 15 hours a day 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."