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

The artist, who played on and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, succumbed on Wednesday in Nashville.

Considered among the greatest studio bands in the history of soul music, the four-piece band the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is primarily known for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper later became a member of the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent touched generations around the world," his family expressed in a message.

"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a family man and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they added.

A reason for his passing was not disclosed.

A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on fresh material.

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

A Storied Musical Path

Voted the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs came together, consisting of keyboardist 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 said 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 are reluctant to repeat the same riff twice."

As well as 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 historical accounts, he was "a part of virtually every record released by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would often spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had a roster of artists we worked with, so we had a very hectic schedule."