Steve Cropper, musician of Booker T and the MGs, has died aged 84

Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.

The guitar virtuoso, 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, passed away recently in Nashville.

Often cited among the greatest supporting groups in soul music, the group Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the historic Memphis label Stax/Volt and is primarily known for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and performed on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent inspired millions of lives 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 noted.

A reason for his passing was not immediately known.

An associate, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs.

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

A Prolific Career

Voted the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were founded, comprising 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 player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They won't even play the same phrase 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 "a part of nearly all record released by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would often spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had a roster of artists signed to the label, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."