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Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.

The artist, who performed on and helped pen 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 greatest backing bands in soul and R&B, the four-piece band Booker T & the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential 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 1970s and played on their successful version of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent inspired generations around the world," his family expressed in a statement.

"While we mourn the loss of a family man and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they continued.

A cause of death was not disclosed.

A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music.

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

An Illustrious Journey

Ranked the number two 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 came together, consisting of keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced 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 seen 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 consistently, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same phrase twice."

As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and alongside 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 "involved in nearly all record released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through 1970".

"We would literally spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a pretty busy schedule."