Duke Fakir, the last original Four Tops member, dies at 88

 

(July 22, 2024) For nearly two decades he was the last member of one the all-time great soul music groups, carrying the mantle for his past musical brothers. Today we say a sad goodbye to Abdul “Duke” Fakir, co-founding member of the legendary Four Tops, who remained part of the group for an amazing seven decades, and whose retirement from the group we just reported on last week. He was 88.

By any measure, the Four Tops are on the Mount Rushmore of classic soul groups, and were among the bedrock acts of Motown’s tremendous run in the 1960s.  Formed in the mid-50s as high schoolers in Detroit, The Four Tops (Fakir along with Levi Stubbs, Obie Benson and Lawrence Payton) were first known as the Four Aims. However, to avoid confusion with the popular Ames Brothers vocal quartet, the group changed its name to the one that would become synonymous with Detroit’s “Sound of Young America.” After cutting several unsuccessful tracks for various record labels in the late 50s and early 60s, the Tops signed with Berry Gordy’s Motown label and teamed with super songwriters Holland/Dozier/Holland. Their first collaboration, “Baby I Need Your Lovin,” was a smash crossover hit and set the stage for future successes.

The Tops rose to the A-list of soul music stars and became, along with the Temptations, the male group leaders of the Motown hit machine. With hits like “Reach Out, I’ll Be There,” “I Can’t Help Myself” and more than two dozen other on Motown during the period 1964-1972, the Tops established themselves as one of the top Soul groups of the era. They moved to ABC/Dunhill in the early 70s, and had another string of hits, led by the #1 “Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I’ve Got). Amazingly, they had a third run of success in the 80s on Casablanca Records with “When She Was My Girl” and “Sad Hearts.”

 At Motown’s 25th Anniversary special in 1983, a playful singing competition was set up between the Temptations and the Four Tops, with the groups poking fun and alternating songs, ultimately joining together for a medley of hits. The act proved so popular that the two groups began a “Tempts vs. Tops” tour that has gone on intermittently ever since and has been seen by millions of fans.

 

With Duke’s recent retirement, the group now consists of Alexander Morris, Ronnie McNeir, Lawrence Payton, Jr. (son of founding member Lawrence Payton, Sr.) and the newest member, singer Michael Brock.

The Tops live on, but today’s passing of the last original member certainly represents the sad end of an era. The Four Tops were an anomaly in music: a group of four men who stayed together, decade after decade, with only death ending their brotherhood. And today we celebrate both that brotherhood and the tremendous musical life of Duke Fakir. Rest in peace.