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

The musician, 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, died on Wednesday in the city of Nashville.

Considered among the finest backing bands in soul and R&B, the four-piece band Booker T & 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 John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and played on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched generations around the world," his family expressed 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 added.

A specific cause was not released at this time.

An associate, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on fresh material.

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

A Prolific Career

Voted the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a music periodical 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 seen myself as a rhythm player," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They won't even play the same riff twice."

In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and besides 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 "integral to nearly all record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through 1970".

"We would truly spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists on the roster, so we had a pretty busy schedule."