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The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.

The guitar virtuoso, who performed on and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away on Wednesday in the city of Nashville.

Considered among the finest studio bands in the history of soul music, the group Booker T & the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax/Volt and is best remembered for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and performed on their popular rendition of Soul Man.

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

"While we grieve the loss of a loved one and companion, we find comfort knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they noted.

A cause of death was not disclosed.

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

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

A Prolific Career

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

A year later, the MGs were formed, featuring 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 considered myself to be a rhythm player," Cropper explained in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, 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 vastly creative 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 virtually every record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through 1970".

"We would often spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists we worked with, so we had a pretty busy schedule."