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

The guitar virtuoso, who played on and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away recently in the city of Nashville.

Considered among the best backing bands in the history of soul music, the group Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is best remembered for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.

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

"Steve was a deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted generations around the world," his family stated in a statement.

"While we grieve the loss of a loved one and companion, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted.

A reason for his passing was not disclosed.

A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing fresh material.

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

A Prolific Career

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

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

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

"I've always seen myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper explained 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 refuse to play the same phrase twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and besides 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 issued by Stax from 1961 through year end 1970".

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