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Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.

The musician, who contributed to and co-wrote the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, succumbed on Wednesday in the city of Nashville.

Widely regarded among the best backing bands in soul and R&B, the group the MGs was the core musical unit of the historic Memphis label Stax Records and is best remembered for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

Cropper went on to join the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent touched generations around the world," his family stated in a statement.

"While we mourn the loss of a loved one and companion, we take solace knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they added.

A specific cause was not released at this time.

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

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

A Prolific Career

Named the second-best guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs came together, featuring organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

"I've always thought of myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They refuse to play the same lick twice."

In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific 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 his official biography, he was "integral to nearly all record released by Stax from late 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would often spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists we worked with, so we had a pretty busy schedule."