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

The musician, who performed 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 Nashville.

Considered among the finest supporting groups in the history of soul music, the group Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the influential Memphis label Stax and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

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

"Steve was a deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose profound talent inspired countless people around the world," his family stated in a statement.

"While we grieve the loss of a family man and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they added.

A cause of death was not immediately known.

A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new music.

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

An Illustrious Journey

Voted the runner-up for 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 came together, comprising keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.

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

"I've always thought of myself as a rhythm player," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same riff 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 co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to available information, he was "integral to virtually every record released by Stax from 1961 through 1970".

"We would literally spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists signed to the label, so we had a pretty busy schedule."