Last Surviving Member of the Legendary Four Tops Passes Away

Abdul ‘Duke’ Fakir, the last of the original legendary Motown group, The Four Tops, has passed away. He was 88.

Abdul “Duke” Fakir, the last surviving original member of the much beloved Motown group The Four Tops, known for hits like “Reach Out, I’ll Be There” and “Standing in the Shadows of Love,” has passed away at the age of 88. His family confirmed the news via a spokesperson, who says he died Monday of heart failure in his home in Detroit, with his wife and loved ones by his side.

Berry Gordy, legendary Motown founder who himself is an impressive 94 years of age, said in a statement that Fakir helped embody the Four Tops’ “showmanship, class, and artistry.” According to Gordy, “Duke was the first tenor — smooth, suave, and always sharp. For 70 years, he kept the Four Tops’ remarkable legacy intact.”

Among Motown’s most popular and enduring acts, the Four Tops peaked in the mid-1960s, with 11 Top 20 hits between 1964 and 1967, along with their two No. 1 hits, “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” and the operatic classic “Reach Out I’ll Be There.” Their many hit songs included “Baby I Need Your Loving,” “Bernadette,” and “Just Ask the Lonely.”

The vast majority of Motown’s greatest stars came up at the Detroit-based company started by Berry Gordy in the late 1950s, including the Supremes and Stevie Wonder. But the Four Tops — Fakir, lead singer Levi Stubbs, Renaldo “Obie” Benson, and Lawrence Payton — had already been together for a decade when they signed with Gordy in 1963. The group had a polished act and versatility that allowed them to perform anything from pop to country music.

“The things I love about them the most — they are very professional, they have fun with what they do, they are very loving, they have always been gentlemen,” said Stevie Wonder of the Four Tops in 1990 when he helped induct them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The group recorded for several labels, including Chicago’s Chess Records, with little mainstream success. Once Gordy and A&R guru Mickey Stevenson teamed them up with songwriting-production team Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian Holland, the Four Tops began to catch fire with the public.

They enjoyed continued success, with a pair of Top 10 songs in the early ‘70s, and their final Top 20 hit in the early ‘80s. The Four Tops have remained a busy concert act and sometimes toured with the later incarnation of the Temptations, until the first of the group, Payton, passed away in 1997. Benson died in 2005, while Stubbs passed away in 2008.