The legendary Motown quartet “Four Tops” shaped the sound of the 1960s with hits like “Baby I Need Your Loving” and “Reach Out, I'll Be There”. Now the band's last singer, Duke Fakir, has died.
The co-founder of the Motown group “Four Tops”, Duke Fakir, has died. As the New York Times reports, citing his family, the singer died of heart failure at the age of 88 in his home in Detroit.
Born Abdul Fakir, Duke Fakir was the last surviving original member of the “Four Tops”. The band, originally founded as the “Four Aims”, included Fakir, Levi Stubbs, Renaldo “Obie” Benson and Lawrence Payton. They performed together from 1953 to 1997.
Fakir performed until 2023
The quartet's biggest hits included pop classics such as “Reach Out, I'll Be There,” “I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” and “Baby I Need Your Lovin'.” The group's sound was fundamental to pop music in the 1960s.
In 1990, the four members of the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In 1990, the four members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. After Fakir's death, the institution honored the “Four Tops” in a message on Instagram as “one of the strongest vocal groups of all time.” In total, the band recorded more than two dozen studio albums.
Mourning for the “music legend”
Between 1997 and 2008, Fakir's three fellow singers died. He himself continued to tour and perform with other musicians until the end of 2023. He only officially retired from the music business this year, Fakir's family told the Detroit Free Press.
They now mourn the “trailblazer, the icon and the music legend,” the statement said.
