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Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.

The artist, 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, passed away this past Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.

Often cited among the finest supporting groups in soul and R&B, the group Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the historic Memphis label Stax and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and played on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose profound talent impacted millions of lives around the world," his family expressed in a statement.

"While we grieve the loss of a loved one and companion, we take solace knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted.

A cause of death was not disclosed.

A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs.

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

A Storied Musical Path

Ranked the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper began working at the Stax label 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 considered myself to be a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same lick twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and alongside 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 "involved in nearly all record put out by Stax from 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would truly spend long days in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists we worked with, so we had a pretty busy schedule."