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

The musician, who played on and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died on Wednesday in the city of Nashville.

Often cited among the greatest studio bands in soul music, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is best remembered for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper went on to join the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and played on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched millions of lives around the world," his family stated in a message.

"While we grieve the loss of a loved one and companion, we find comfort knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they noted.

A reason for his passing was not immediately known.

A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on fresh material.

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

A Storied Musical Path

Voted the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were formed, comprising keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.

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

"I've always seen myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper said in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They refuse to play the same riff 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 historical accounts, he was "involved in nearly all record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would often spend long days in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had nearly 20 artists signed to the label, so we had a very hectic schedule."