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The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.

The guitar virtuoso, who played on and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died on Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.

Widely regarded among the greatest backing bands in the history of soul music, the group Booker T & the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is primarily known for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and performed on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a cherished guitarist, composer, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted generations around the world," his family stated in a message.

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

A cause of death was not disclosed.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new music.

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

A Storied Musical Path

Voted the number two guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs came together, consisting of organist 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 thought of myself as a rhythm player," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They refuse to play the same riff twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific 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 historical accounts, he was "involved in virtually every record put out by Stax from late 1961 through the end of 1970".

"We would truly spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists on the roster, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."