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

The guitar virtuoso, who performed on and co-wrote the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, succumbed on Wednesday in Nashville.

Considered among the greatest supporting groups in soul music, the four-piece band the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax and is primarily known for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined 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 extraordinary talent impacted millions of lives around the world," his family said in a message.

"While we grieve the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they noted.

A cause of death was not immediately known.

An associate, 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 remarked. "We were blessed to have him, for sure."

A Prolific Career

Named the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax 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 replaced 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 thought of myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper said in a previous conversation. "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."

In addition to being 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 "a part of virtually every record released by Stax from 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would often spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists we worked with, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."