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The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.

The artist, who contributed to and helped pen the classic song 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 best supporting groups in the history of soul music, the quartet Booker T & the MGs was the house band of the historic Memphis label Stax and is best remembered for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

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

"Steve was a deeply admired artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent touched countless people around the world," his family said in a statement.

"While we mourn the loss of a loved one and companion, we are consoled knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they continued.

A specific cause was not immediately known.

A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new music.

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

A Prolific Career

Named the number two guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper began working at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.

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

The band was entered into 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 past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same riff twice."

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

According to available information, he was "integral to virtually every record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would literally spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."