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

The guitar virtuoso, who contributed to and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, succumbed on Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.

Considered among the best backing bands in the history of soul music, the quartet the MGs was the core musical unit of the historic Memphis label Stax/Volt and is primarily known for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

Cropper went on to join the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired artist, writer, and producer whose immense talent impacted generations around the world," his family stated in a release.

"While we grieve the loss of a family man and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted.

A specific cause was not immediately known.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on fresh material.

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

A Storied Musical Path

Ranked the number two guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs came together, comprising keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

"I've always seen myself as a rhythm player," Cropper explained in a past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They are reluctant to repeat the same phrase 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 collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to his official biography, he was "a part of virtually every record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would literally 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."