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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 artist, who contributed to and co-wrote the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died on Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.

Considered among the best backing bands in soul music, the four-piece band the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is best remembered for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and featured on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose immense talent touched millions of lives around the world," his family stated in a message.

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

A specific cause was not immediately known.

A friend, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on fresh material.

"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 the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were founded, comprising organist 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 rhythm player," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They won't even play the same phrase twice."

As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

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

"We would literally spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."