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

The guitar virtuoso, who contributed to and collaborated on writing the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died recently in Nashville.

Often cited among the best supporting groups in soul and R&B, the four-piece band Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax/Volt and is best remembered for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and performed on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched generations around the world," his family said in a statement.

"While we mourn the loss of a family man and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they continued.

A specific cause was not immediately known.

A friend, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new songs.

"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 music periodical in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were founded, consisting of organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded 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 explained in a past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They refuse to play the same phrase twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and alongside 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 the fall of 1961 through 1970".

"We would often spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."