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Esteemed musician 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 the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died this past Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.

Considered among the finest studio bands in soul music, the four-piece band Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is most famous for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and performed on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a cherished musician, songwriter, and producer whose profound talent inspired countless people around the world," his family stated in a statement.

"While we mourn the loss of a family man and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they continued.

A specific cause was not released at this time.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs.

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

A Storied Musical Path

Named the second-best guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were formed, 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 seen myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper explained in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same riff twice."

As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific 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 historical accounts, he was "involved in virtually every record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would truly spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists we worked with, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."