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

The artist, who played on and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away this past Wednesday in Nashville.

Widely regarded among the best studio bands in soul music, the four-piece band Booker T & the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is primarily known for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper went on to join the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man.

"Steve was a cherished artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent inspired countless people around the world," his family said in a release.

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

A reason for his passing was not disclosed.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new music.

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

A Prolific Career

Named the second-best guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.

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

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

"I've always considered myself to be a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They are reluctant to repeat the same lick twice."

In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a productive 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 historical accounts, he was "integral to virtually every record released by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would literally spend long days in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a pretty busy schedule."