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

The artist, who performed on and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away on Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.

Often cited among the greatest backing bands in the history of soul music, the group Booker T & the MGs was the resident studio band of the influential Memphis label Stax and is primarily known for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

Cropper later became a member of the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and performed on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent inspired millions of lives around the world," his family stated in a message.

"While we grieve the loss of a loved one and companion, we take solace knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they continued.

A cause of death was not disclosed.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new music.

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

A Prolific Career

Voted the number two guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper first found employment at the Stax label 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 succeeded by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.

The band was entered 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 previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They refuse to play the same phrase twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and besides 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 "a part of the majority of record released by Stax from late 1961 through 1970".

"We would literally spend long days in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had nearly 20 artists on the roster, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."