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

The guitar virtuoso, who contributed to and collaborated on writing the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away recently in Music City, Nashville.

Considered among the best backing bands in soul and R&B, the group the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax/Volt and is primarily known for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and performed on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent impacted generations around the world," his family said in a message.

"While we grieve the loss of a loved one and companion, we are consoled knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they continued.

A reason for his passing was not released at this time.

A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new music.

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

A Storied Musical Path

Named 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, consisting of 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 thought of myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper explained in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They won't even play the same phrase twice."

As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and in addition to 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 released 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 nearly 20 artists we worked with, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."