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

The artist, who played on and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, succumbed this past Wednesday in the city of Nashville.

Considered among the greatest studio bands in soul and R&B, the group Booker T & the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax and is primarily known for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and played on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose profound talent touched countless people around the world," his family expressed in a statement.

"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a family man and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they added.

A reason for his passing was not immediately known.

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

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

An Illustrious Journey

Named the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs came together, consisting of organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.

The band was entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

"I've always thought of myself as a rhythm player," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They won't even play the same phrase twice."

As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to available information, he was "involved in the majority of record released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would literally spend long days in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had a roster of artists we worked with, so we had a very hectic schedule."