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Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has died at the age of 84.

The guitar virtuoso, who performed on 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 the city of Nashville.

Considered among the finest backing bands in the history of soul music, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous for their 1962 track Green Onions.

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

"Steve was a beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted countless people around the world," his family expressed in a release.

"While we grieve the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they continued.

A reason for his passing was not disclosed.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new songs.

"He's such a good human," Gore commented. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."

A Storied Musical Path

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

A year later, the MGs came together, featuring organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.

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

"I've always considered myself to be a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper explained in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. 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 available information, he was "a part of nearly all record released by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would truly spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had a roster of artists we worked with, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."