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Steve Cropper, the acclaimed 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, passed away on Wednesday in Nashville.

Widely regarded among the best supporting groups in soul music, the group the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax and is primarily known for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and played on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose extraordinary talent inspired generations around the world," his family said in a statement.

"While we mourn the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted.

A reason for his passing was not released at this time.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on fresh material.

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

A Storied Musical Path

Ranked the number two guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper started his career at the Stax label 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 entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

"I've always considered myself to be a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They refuse to play the same lick twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to historical accounts, he was "involved in the majority of record put out by Stax from 1961 through 1970".

"We would often spend long days in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists we worked with, so we had a very hectic schedule."