Farewell to Duke Fakir, the singer of the Four Tops

Duke Fakir singer of the Four Topsthe last living member of the legendary Motown vocal quartet, has died, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Fakir, who sang on hits like “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” and “Reach Out, I’ll Be There,” co-founded the Four Tops in 1953, when he was just 18, and performed live with the group throughout his life. After his bandmates died over the years, Fakir put together a touring lineup and continued to sing under the name Four Tops until 2023.

“Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the loss of a pioneer, icon and music legend who, throughout his 70-year musical career, touched the lives of so many, continuing to tour through the end of 2023 and officially retiring this year,” Fakir’s family said in a statement to the Detroit Free Press. “As the last living founding member of the iconic musical group the Four Tops, we take comfort in the fact that Duke’s legacy lives on through his music for generations to come.”

Born and raised in Detroit, Abdul Kareem “Duke” Fakir was a star athlete in high school, which led him to cross paths with Levi Stubbs, his future bandmate, at a neighborhood football game. The two became friends, bonding over their shared love of singing, and sought out other singers to form a group together.

Once Lawrence Payton and Obie Benson joined them, they appointed Stubbs to lead the group with his baritone voice, called themselves Four Aims and booked a recording session with the Chess Records of Chicago. To avoid confusion with the Ames Brothers, however, they quickly changed their name to Four Tops at the suggestion of their musical director Maurice King – a nod to their goal of reaching the top of the charts.

In 1963, already with extensive tours under their belt, they attracted the attention of Berry Gordy Jr. who invited them to join his record company. Motown and recorded a handful of jazz standards. After supporting other Motown singles such as “Run, Run, Run” by Supremes and “When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes,” the Four Tops teamed up with songwriting team Holland-Dozier-Holland to deliver “Baby I Need Your Loving.” The song became their first major hit, peaking at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Beginning in the mid-1960s, the Four Tops began to dominate the charts with a long string of hit singles that blended pop song structure with the vocal soul of a gospel preacher: “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch),” “Reach Out, I’ll Be There,” “Standing in the Shadows of Love,” “It’s the Same Old Song,” “Something About You,” “Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever.” The Four Tops released 27 studio albums with the original quartet lineup, including 1967’s Reach Out and a handful of collaborative LPs with the Supremes.

The original Four Tops stayed together for 43 years. “We loved each other as men, as friends,” Fakir once told The Quietus. “We loved singing together, we knew we fit together really well. We loved entertaining, we all had the same passion for entertaining people and we liked the way we thought about each other.” None of us had higher praise for the other. I think I had more fun with those men than any other friend I’ve ever had, I mean real fun, we had fun! We’d go home together, we’d hang out together, we’d play cards together – we had fun! It was the best thing, working with those guys, and it was the hardest thing when they left.”

As a member of the Four Tops, Fakir was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009, and was honored by Billboard as one of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2022, Fakir published a memoir about his life, “I’ll Be There: My Life with the Four Tops”.

Several artists have shared tributes to the late Duke Fakir on social media, such as Billy Bragg And Chuck D Public Enemy: “My brother, I am truly sorry to say goodbye to you, but you have been called home by the Father to once again join Lawrence, Obie and Levi and make more of the heavenly music you made while you were here. I will miss you, my brother,” he wrote. Smokey Robinson on Instagram.