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

The guitar virtuoso, who played on and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died recently in the city of Nashville.

Often cited among the finest backing bands in soul music, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax Records and is primarily known for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

Cropper went on to join the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired musician, songwriter, and producer whose profound talent inspired countless people around the world," his family said in a message.

"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a loved one and companion, we are consoled knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they continued.

A cause of death was not immediately known.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new music.

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

An Illustrious Journey

Voted the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were founded, featuring keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.

The band was honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

"I've always thought of myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They won't even play the same riff twice."

As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a productive 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 his official biography, he was "a part of nearly all record released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through 1970".

"We would truly spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had nearly 20 artists on the roster, so we had a pretty busy schedule."