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Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has died at the age of 84.

The musician, who contributed to and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died this past Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.

Considered among the greatest supporting groups in soul and R&B, the group the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax/Volt and is most famous for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and featured on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a cherished guitarist, composer, and producer whose immense talent touched generations around the world," his family said in a statement.

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

A specific cause was not released at this time.

An associate, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new songs.

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

A Prolific Career

Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax 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 remarked in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same lick twice."

In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a productive 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 "a part of the majority of record put out by Stax from late 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would often spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had nearly 20 artists on the roster, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."