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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 musician, who contributed to and collaborated on writing the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away this past Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.

Considered among the greatest supporting groups in soul music, the four-piece band Booker T & the MGs was the house band of the historic Memphis label Stax and is best remembered for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

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

"Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose immense talent touched millions of lives around the world," his family expressed in a message.

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

A reason for his passing was not released at this time.

An associate, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating fresh material.

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

A Storied Musical Path

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

A year later, the MGs were formed, 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 seen myself as a rhythm player," Cropper explained in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They are reluctant to repeat the same lick twice."

In addition to being 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 historical accounts, he was "integral to nearly all record put out by Stax from late 1961 through 1970".

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