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Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.

The guitar virtuoso, who performed on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, succumbed recently in the city of Nashville.

Often cited among the best backing bands in the history of soul music, the quartet the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

Cropper later became a member of the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and played on their successful version of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired musician, songwriter, and producer whose extraordinary talent inspired millions of lives 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 continued.

A reason for his passing was not immediately known.

A friend, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music.

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

An Illustrious Journey

Named the second-best guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper started his career at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were formed, 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 considered myself to be a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper said in a previous conversation. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They are reluctant to repeat the same riff twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to his official biography, he was "a part of nearly all record released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would truly spend long days in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a pretty busy schedule."