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Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.

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

Widely regarded among the best backing bands in soul music, the four-piece band Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax and is best remembered for their 1962 track Green Onions.

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

"Steve was a deeply admired musician, songwriter, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched generations around the world," his family stated in a message.

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

A cause of death was not disclosed.

A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating fresh material.

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

An Illustrious Journey

Named the number two 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, featuring organist 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 considered myself to be a rhythm guitarist," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They refuse to play the same riff twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and in addition to 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 "integral to the majority of record released by Stax from late 1961 through 1970".

"We would often spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had a roster of artists we worked with, so we had a pretty busy schedule."