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Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.

The guitar virtuoso, who performed on and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away recently in Music City, Nashville.

Often cited among the best studio bands in soul music, the group Booker T & the MGs was the house band of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is most famous for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper went on to join the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a cherished guitarist, composer, and producer whose extraordinary talent inspired generations around the world," his family said in a message.

"While we mourn the loss of a family man and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they continued.

A cause of death was not disclosed.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new songs.

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

An Illustrious Journey

Named the number two guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were founded, comprising keyboardist 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 player," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They won't even play the same lick twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific 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 put out by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would literally spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had a roster of artists signed to the label, so we had a very hectic schedule."