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

The artist, who played on and co-wrote the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, succumbed this past Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.

Often cited among the best supporting groups in soul music, the quartet the MGs was the house band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is best remembered for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper later became a member of 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 touched countless people around the world," his family said in a release.

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

A cause of death was not disclosed.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music.

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

A Storied Musical Path

Named the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs came together, consisting of keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.

The band was honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

"I've always seen myself as a rhythm player," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They won't even play the same phrase twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and in addition to Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to historical accounts, he was "a part of nearly all record issued by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970".

"We would literally spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had nearly 20 artists on the roster, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."