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The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.

The guitar virtuoso, who played on and collaborated on writing the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, succumbed on Wednesday in the city of Nashville.

Widely regarded among the best backing bands in soul and R&B, the group Booker T & the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax Records and is best remembered for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and performed on their hit cover of Soul Man.

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

"While we grieve the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they continued.

A reason for his passing was not disclosed.

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

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

A Prolific Career

Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.

A year later, the MGs were formed, 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 inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

"I've always considered myself to be a rhythm guitarist," Cropper explained in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same phrase twice."

Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.

According to his official biography, he was "a part of the majority of record released by Stax from 1961 through 1970".

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