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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 musician, who contributed to 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 greatest supporting groups in soul music, the group Booker T & the MGs was the house band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and played on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched millions of lives around the world," his family said in a statement.

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

A cause of death was not released at this time.

A friend, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs.

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

A Prolific Career

Ranked the number two guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax Records 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 seen myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper said in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something over and over, 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 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 "involved in the majority of record issued by Stax from late 1961 through 1970".

"We would often spend long days in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had nearly 20 artists we worked with, so we had a very hectic schedule."