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Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died 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 on Wednesday in Nashville.

Considered among the greatest supporting groups in the history of soul music, the group Booker T & the MGs was the house band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax/Volt and is primarily known for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

Cropper went on to join the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and performed on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted millions of lives around the world," his family stated in a statement.

"While we mourn the loss of a family man and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted.

A cause of death was not disclosed.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new songs.

"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 British music magazine in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.

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

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

"I've always thought of myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper said in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They refuse to play the same riff twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to historical accounts, he was "a part of nearly all record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would truly spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists signed to the label, so we had a very hectic schedule."