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Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.

The musician, who performed on and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, succumbed on Wednesday in the city of Nashville.

Often cited among the best backing bands in soul music, the group the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax/Volt and is best remembered for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper went on to join the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and played on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose profound talent inspired generations around the world," his family stated in a message.

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

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 wonderful human," Gore commented. "We were blessed to have him, for sure."

A Prolific Career

Ranked the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs came together, featuring keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced 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 seen myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They refuse to play the same riff twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and in addition to Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to available information, he was "a part of the majority of record released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through 1970".

"We would often spend long days in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had a roster of artists we worked with, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."