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

The musician, who performed on and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died recently in the city of Nashville.

Widely regarded among the finest backing bands in the history of soul music, the four-piece band Booker T & the MGs was the resident studio band of the influential Memphis label Stax and is most famous for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper went on to join the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and performed on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired musician, songwriter, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched millions of lives around the world," his family expressed in a message.

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

A reason for his passing was not immediately known.

An associate, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music.

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

A Prolific Career

Voted the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper first found employment at the Stax label 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 thought of myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They are reluctant to repeat the same riff twice."

As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and in addition to 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 the majority of record put out by Stax from late 1961 through 1970".

"We would truly spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had nearly 20 artists signed to the label, so we had a very hectic schedule."