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Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.

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

Often cited among the finest supporting groups in soul music, the quartet Booker T & the MGs was the house band of the influential Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous 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 performed on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose profound talent touched countless people around the world," his family stated in a statement.

"While we grieve the loss of a loved one and companion, we take solace knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they noted.

A specific cause was not disclosed.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on fresh material.

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

An Illustrious Journey

Ranked the number two 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 founded, featuring keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded 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 player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper explained 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 refuse to play the same lick twice."

Not only was he 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 his official biography, he was "integral to the majority of record put out by Stax from late 1961 through 1970".

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