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The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.

The musician, who contributed to and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died on Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.

Often cited among the greatest studio bands in the history of soul music, the group the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax Records and is best remembered for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and performed on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted generations around the world," his family said in a statement.

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

A cause of death was not released at this time.

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

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

A Prolific Career

Named the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper began working at the Stax label 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 inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

"I've always considered myself to be a rhythm player," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They are reluctant to repeat the same phrase twice."

In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and besides 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 said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a pretty busy schedule."