Abdul “Duke” Fakir Dies: The Four Tops’ Last Surviving Member Was 88
deadline.comAbdul “Duke” Fakir, the last surviving member of legendary Motown Records group The Four Tops, who racked up 17 Top 20 singles from 1964-73 including the chart-topping classics “I Can’t Help Myself” and “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” died today at his home in Detroit.
He was 88. In a statement, Fakir’s family said he died of heart failure. After a string of non-charting singles for Chess Records in the 1950s as The Four Aims, the group rebranded and signed with Berry Gordy’s wildly successful Motown Records.
They sang backup on some of the label’s songs by other acts before breaking out with the Holland-Dozier-Holland song “Baby I Need Your Loving” in 1964.
During the next decade, they became one the label’s top acts, with more than three dozen songs on the pop chart. Alongside lead vocalist Levi Stubbs, Lawrence Payton and Renaldo “Obie” Benson, Fakir’s tenor helped create the magic that fueled such 1960s pop and R&Bs nuggets as “It’s the Same Old Song,” “Standing in the Shadows of Love” and “Bernadette.” DEADLINE RELATED VIDEO: The Four Tops left Motown in the early 1970s and signed with ABC/Dunhill.
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