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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 artist, who contributed to and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away recently in Nashville.

Considered among the best backing bands in soul and R&B, the four-piece band Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

Cropper later became a member of the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose immense talent inspired millions of lives around the world," his family expressed in a message.

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

A specific cause was not immediately known.

An associate, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating fresh material.

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

A Prolific Career

Ranked the runner-up for 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 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 said in a past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They are reluctant to repeat the same lick twice."

In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to historical accounts, he was "integral to nearly all record put out by Stax from late 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would truly spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."