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

The musician, who contributed to and collaborated on writing the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died recently in the city of Nashville.

Often cited among the greatest supporting groups in the history of soul music, the four-piece band the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is primarily known for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined 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 guitarist, composer, and producer whose profound talent inspired millions of lives around the world," his family said in a release.

"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 immediately known.

An associate, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs.

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

A Prolific Career

Named the number two guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were formed, featuring 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 considered myself to be a rhythm guitarist," Cropper explained in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They won't even play the same phrase twice."

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

According to available information, he was "a part of virtually every record released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would literally spend long days in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had nearly 20 artists we worked with, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."