FAREWELL 2 DUKE THE LAST MEMBER OF THE INCREDIBLE FOUR TOPS. A GRAND REUNION OF FOUR OLD FRIENDS.

Public viewing for Four Tops’ Duke Fakir to be held at Motown Museum on Thursday
Brian McCollum
Detroit Free Press
A public viewing for the late Four Tops singer Duke Fakir will be held from noon to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Motown Museum, his family announced Friday.
Fakir’s body will lie in repose in the atrium of Hitsville Next, the museum expansion space next door to the original Motown studio where he and his fellow Tops recorded many of their biggest hits in the 1960s.
Fakir's family said Friday "the public is invited to honor the life and legacy" of the lifelong Detroiter, who died Monday at his home of heart failure. Fakir, 88, was the last surviving original member of the Four Tops, one of Motown’s cornerstone
Thursday’s public viewing will be the first ever at the Motown Museum, which was established in the mid-1980s.
The museum is located at 2648 W. Grand Blvd., Detroit.
THE FOUR TOPS
Four Tops
The Four Tops in 1968. (L-to-R) Levi Stubbs, Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Abdul "Duke" Fakir, and Lawrence Payton
The Four Tops in 1968. (L-to-R) Levi Stubbs, Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Abdul "Duke" Fakir, and Lawrence Payton
Background information
Also known as the Four Tops, the Four Aims, the Tops
Origin Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Genres
SoulR&Bpop
Discography Four Tops discography
Years active 1953-present
Labels
ChessRed TopRiversideColumbiaMotownABC-DunhillCasablancaArista
Members Michael Brock
Ronnie McNeir
Lawrence Payton Jr.
Alexander Morris
Past members Levi Stubbs
Duke Fakir
Renaldo "Obie" Benson
Lawrence Payton
Theo Peoples
Harold Bonhart
The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet from Detroit, Michigan. They were one of the most commercially successful American pop music groups of the 1960s and helped propel the Motown label to international fame. The group's repertoire has included aspects of soul, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes.
Founded as the Four Aims, lead singer Levi Stubbs, Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton remained together for over four decades, performing from 1953 until 1997 without a change in personnel. The Four Tops were among a number of groups, including the Miracles, the Marvelettes, Martha and the Vandellas, the Temptations, and the Supremes, who established the Motown Sound. They were notable for having Stubbs, a baritone, as their lead singer, whereas most other male and mixed vocal groups of the time were fronted by tenors.
The group was the main male vocal group for the highly successful songwriting and production team of Holland-Dozier-Holland, who crafted a stream of hit singles for Motown. These included two Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits for the Tops: "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" in 1965 and "Reach Out I'll Be There" in 1966. The group continued to have chart singles into the 1970s, including the million-seller "Ain't No Woman" (1973).
The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2013 into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame Rolling Stone ranked them #79 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
On July 20, 2024, the last surviving original member, Fakir, retired.[1] He died two days later.[2]
History
Early years
All four members of the group began their careers together while they were high-school students in Detroit. At the insistence of their friends, Pershing High students Levi Stubbs and Abdul "Duke" Fakir performed with Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton from Northern High at a local birthday party. The quartet decided to remain together and named the group the Four Aims.[3] With the help of Payton's songwriter cousin Roquel Davis, the Aims signed to Chess Records in 1956, changing their name to the Four Tops to avoid confusion with the Ames Brothers.[3]
Over the next seven years, the Tops had unsuccessful tenures at Chess, Red Top, Riverside Records and Columbia Records.[3] Without any hit records to their name, they toured frequently, developing a polished stage presence and an experienced supper club act, as well as supporting Billy Eckstine. In 1963, Berry Gordy, Jr., who had worked with Roquel "Billy" Davis as a songwriter in the late 1950s, convinced the Tops to join the roster of his growing Motown record company.[3]
Joining Motown
During their early Motown years, the Four Tops recorded jazz standards for the company's Workshop Jazz Records label. In addition, they sang backup on Motown singles[4] by the Supremes ("Run, Run, Run", 1964), Martha and the Vandellas (on the 1966 hit "My Baby Loves Me") and others.[citation needed]