The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, musician of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84

The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.

The musician, who performed on and collaborated on writing the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died this past Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.

Widely regarded among the best supporting groups in the history of soul music, the four-piece band Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the house band of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is most famous 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 deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose profound talent touched millions of lives around the world," his family expressed in a release.

"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they added.

A cause of death was not disclosed.

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

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

A Prolific Career

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

A year later, the MGs came together, featuring organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.

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

"I've always considered myself to be a rhythm guitarist," Cropper explained in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They are reluctant to repeat the same phrase twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to historical accounts, he was "integral to virtually every record released by Stax from 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would truly spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists signed to the label, so we had a pretty busy schedule."