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Esteemed musician 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 Nashville.

Often cited among the greatest studio bands in soul and R&B, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax/Volt and is primarily known for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

Cropper later became a member of the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and performed on their successful version of Soul Man.

"Steve was a cherished artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched countless people around the world," his family expressed in a release.

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

A reason for his passing was not immediately known.

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

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

A Storied Musical Path

Named the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper began working at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.

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

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

"I've always considered myself to be a rhythm guitarist," Cropper remarked 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 won't even play the same lick twice."

In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to his official biography, he was "involved in the majority of record released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would truly spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had nearly 20 artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."