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Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.

The guitar virtuoso, who played on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, succumbed on Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.

Considered among the best supporting groups in soul music, the group Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic 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 '70s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired musician, songwriter, and producer whose profound talent touched generations around the world," his family stated in a statement.

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

A reason for his passing was not immediately known.

A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music.

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

An Illustrious Journey

Named the runner-up for 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 founded, featuring organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.

The band was honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

"I've always thought of myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They refuse to play the same riff twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to his official biography, he was "a part of the majority of record released by Stax from 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would literally spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists we worked with, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."