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

The guitar virtuoso, who played on and collaborated on writing the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, succumbed recently in Nashville.

Considered among the best supporting groups in the history of soul music, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and played on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose profound talent touched generations around the world," his family stated in a message.

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

A reason for his passing was not immediately known.

An associate, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on 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 music periodical in 1996, Cropper began working 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 replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.

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

"I've always seen myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They won't even play the same lick twice."

In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

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

"We would often spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."