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Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.

The guitar virtuoso, who contributed to and co-wrote the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away this past Wednesday in Nashville.

Considered among the finest backing bands in soul and R&B, the quartet the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax and is most famous 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 '70s and featured 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 mourn the loss of a family man and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they added.

A reason for his passing was not immediately known.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing fresh material.

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

A Prolific Career

Named the number two guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper first found employment at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were founded, featuring 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 thought of myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same phrase twice."

Not only was he 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 "integral to the majority of record released by Stax from late 1961 through 1970".

"We would truly spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had a roster of artists we worked with, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."