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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 musician, who performed on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, succumbed on Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.

Considered among the greatest supporting groups in soul music, the group Booker T & the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is primarily known for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man.

"Steve was a cherished musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent inspired countless people around the world," his family said in a release.

"While we grieve 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, mentioned he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music.

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

A Storied Musical Path

Ranked the number two guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper first found employment at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.

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

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

"I've always thought of myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They won't even play the same riff twice."

In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative 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 available information, he was "integral to virtually every record put out by Stax from 1961 through 1970".

"We would truly spend long days in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had nearly 20 artists we worked with, so we had a very hectic schedule."