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Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.

The guitar virtuoso, who played on and collaborated on writing the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away on Wednesday in the city of Nashville.

Widely regarded among the greatest backing bands in soul and R&B, the four-piece band the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax Records 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 '70s and performed on their successful version of Soul Man.

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

"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted.

A specific cause was not disclosed.

A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music.

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

A Storied Musical Path

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, 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 honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

"I've always considered myself to be a rhythm guitarist," Cropper said in a past interview. "I take pride in 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 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 collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to available information, he was "integral to nearly all record put out by Stax from 1961 through 1970".

"We would often spend long days in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had nearly 20 artists signed to the label, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."