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Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.

The artist, who played on and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away this past Wednesday in the city of Nashville.

Considered among the best backing bands in the history of soul music, the group the MGs was the resident studio band of the influential Memphis label Stax and is primarily known for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.

Cropper went on to join the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and played on their successful version of Soul Man.

"Steve was a deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose immense talent impacted millions of lives around the world," his family expressed in a message.

"While we grieve the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they continued.

A cause of death was not immediately known.

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

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

An Illustrious Journey

Voted the runner-up for 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 were founded, 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 player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper said in a previous conversation. "I enjoy 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 lick twice."

As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a productive 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 available information, he was "involved in virtually every record issued 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 we worked with, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."