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

The guitar virtuoso, who played on 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.

Widely regarded among the greatest supporting groups in soul music, the four-piece band Booker T & the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is primarily known for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.

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

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

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

A cause of death was not disclosed.

A friend, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs.

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

An Illustrious Journey

Named 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 founded, featuring keyboardist 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 said in a previous conversation. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same phrase twice."

In addition to being 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 available information, he was "a part of the majority of record put out by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would often spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."