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Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.

The guitar virtuoso, who contributed to and collaborated on writing the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died on Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.

Widely regarded among the best studio bands in soul and R&B, the group the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax Records and is primarily known for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper later became a member of the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and performed on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired artist, writer, and producer whose immense talent touched millions of lives around the world," his family expressed in a release.

"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a family man and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they continued.

A specific cause was not released at this time.

A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating fresh material.

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

A Storied Musical Path

Ranked the second-best guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax 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 player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked 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 won't even play the same phrase twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific 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 the majority of record released by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would often spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists we worked with, so we had a pretty busy schedule."