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

The guitar virtuoso, who performed on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, succumbed on Wednesday in the city of Nashville.

Considered among the best backing bands in soul music, the group the MGs was the core musical unit of the historic Memphis label Stax and is best remembered for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and played on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired artist, writer, and producer whose immense talent impacted countless people around the world," his family stated in a statement.

"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a loved one and companion, we find comfort knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they continued.

A specific cause was not disclosed.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing fresh material.

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

An Illustrious Journey

Ranked the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were formed, comprising 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 said in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They won't even play the same lick twice."

As well as 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 available information, he was "integral to the majority of record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would truly spend long days in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had nearly 20 artists signed to the label, so we had a very hectic schedule."