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Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has left us 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 Music City, Nashville.

Often cited among the finest studio bands in soul and R&B, the four-piece band Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking 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 late '70s and featured on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a cherished artist, writer, and producer whose immense talent impacted countless people around the world," his family expressed in a statement.

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

A cause of death was not released at this time.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, stated 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 remarked. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."

A Prolific Career

Named the second-best 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, featuring keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.

The band was entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

"I've always seen myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They refuse to play the same riff twice."

In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to his official biography, he was "involved in the majority of record issued by Stax from late 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would truly spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists we worked with, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."