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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 guitar virtuoso, who performed on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, succumbed recently in the city of Nashville.

Often cited among the best backing bands in the history of soul music, the quartet the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax and is primarily known for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper went on to join the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted millions of lives 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 cause of death was not disclosed.

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 kind human," Gore said. "We were blessed to have him, for sure."

A Storied Musical Path

Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were founded, consisting of organist 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 thought of myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They refuse to play the same lick 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 collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to his official biography, he was "involved in the majority of record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through 1970".

"We would often spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had nearly 20 artists on the roster, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."