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Esteemed musician 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 performed on and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died recently in Music City, Nashville.

Considered among the best backing bands in soul and R&B, the four-piece band the MGs was the house band of the historic Memphis label Stax and is most famous for their 1962 track Green Onions.

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

"Steve was a beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent impacted generations around the world," his family stated in a message.

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

A specific cause was not released at this time.

An associate, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new music.

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

A Prolific Career

Named the second-best guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were formed, featuring organist 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 thought of myself as a rhythm player," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They won't even play the same riff twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and alongside 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 nearly all record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through 1970".

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