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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 artist, who contributed to and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died this past Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.

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

Cropper later became a member of the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and performed on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose immense talent touched countless people around the world," his family expressed in a statement.

"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a family man and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they continued.

A cause of death was not immediately known.

A friend, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new music.

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

A Storied Musical Path

Named the number two guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper started his career at the Stax label 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 inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

"I've always considered myself to be a rhythm guitarist," Cropper explained in a past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They are reluctant to repeat the same lick twice."

As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a productive 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 "a part of virtually every record released by Stax from late 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would often spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had nearly 20 artists signed to the label, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."