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The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has died at the age of 84.

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

Often cited among the best backing bands in soul and R&B, the quartet Booker T. Jones and 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 later became a member of the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a cherished artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent impacted generations around the world," his family stated in a release.

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

A cause of death was not immediately known.

A friend, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music.

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

An Illustrious Journey

Named the second-best guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax 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 replaced 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 player," Cropper said in a previous conversation. "I enjoy 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 lick twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a productive 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 "a part of virtually every record issued by Stax from 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would truly spend long days in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a very hectic schedule."