Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, member of Booker T and the MGs, dies aged 84

Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.

The musician, who performed on and co-wrote the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away recently in Nashville.

Considered among the best studio bands in soul and R&B, the quartet the MGs was the house band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax/Volt and is best remembered for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose extraordinary 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 find comfort knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they noted.

A reason for his passing was not disclosed.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on fresh material.

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

An Illustrious Journey

Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were founded, consisting of organist 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 seen myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They refuse to play the same phrase twice."

As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and in addition to 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 "a part of the majority of record released by Stax from late 1961 through 1970".

"We would often spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had nearly 20 artists we worked with, so we had a very hectic schedule."