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

The guitar virtuoso, who contributed to and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died this past Wednesday in Nashville.

Considered among the best studio bands in soul music, the four-piece band Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax and is primarily known for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and performed on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

"Steve was a cherished guitarist, composer, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched generations around the world," his family expressed in a statement.

"While we grieve the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they added.

A cause of death was not released at this time.

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

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

A Storied Musical Path

Ranked the number two guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper first found employment 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 replaced 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 rhythm player," Cropper said in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They won't even play the same riff twice."

In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

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

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