Steve Cropper, member of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, dies at the age of 84

The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.

The artist, who performed on and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away on Wednesday in the city of Nashville.

Widely regarded among the greatest studio bands in soul and R&B, the group Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the house band of the historic Memphis label Stax and is best remembered for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper went on to join the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and featured on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent impacted millions of lives around the world," his family stated in a message.

"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a family man and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they added.

A cause of death was not released at this time.

An associate, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music.

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

An Illustrious Journey

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

A year later, the MGs were founded, consisting of keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced 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 rhythm guitarist," Cropper said in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They refuse to play the same riff twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to historical accounts, he was "a part of the majority of record released by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would truly spend long days in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had nearly 20 artists signed to the label, so we had a pretty busy schedule."