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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 musician, who performed on and collaborated on writing the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away recently in the city of Nashville.

Widely regarded among the finest backing bands in the history of soul music, the quartet the MGs was the house band of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is primarily known for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper later became a member of the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and featured on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a cherished musician, songwriter, and producer whose profound talent touched millions of lives around the world," his family stated in a statement.

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

A specific cause was not released at this time.

An associate, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new songs.

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

An Illustrious Journey

Ranked the second-best guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax Records 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 entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

"I've always thought of myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper said in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They refuse to play the same riff twice."

In addition to being 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 "involved in nearly all record released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through 1970".

"We would often spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had a roster of artists we worked with, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."