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

The artist, who contributed to and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died on Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.

Often cited among the best supporting groups in the history of soul music, the group Booker T & the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax/Volt and is primarily known for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

Cropper later became a member of the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and played on their successful version of Soul Man.

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

"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted.

A specific cause was not released at this time.

An associate, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new songs.

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

A Storied Musical Path

Named the second-best guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs came together, featuring keyboardist 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 considered myself to be 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 are reluctant to repeat the same phrase twice."

As well as 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 nearly all record released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would often spend long days in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists on the roster, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."