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Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has passed away 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, died this past Wednesday in Nashville.

Widely regarded among the greatest supporting groups in soul and R&B, the group Booker T & the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax and is primarily known for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and featured on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose immense talent touched countless people around the world," his family expressed in a release.

"While we mourn the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted.

A specific cause was not released at this time.

An associate, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on fresh material.

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

An Illustrious Journey

Named the second-best guitarist of all time by a music periodical 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 replaced 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 rhythm player," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They won't even play the same riff twice."

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

According to available information, he was "integral to nearly all record issued by Stax from 1961 through the end of 1970".

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