The last original member of Motown group the Four Tops has died at the age of 88.
Abdul “Duke” Fakir died Monday of heart failure, according to a family spokesman.
The Four Tops were among Motown’s most popular and enduring groups, reaching their peak in the 1960s.
Abdul “Duke” Fakir at the Grammy Awards in February 2023. Photo: Action Press/Shutterstock
Between 1964 and 1967, they had 11 top 20 hits, including two number ones: I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) and Reach Out I’ll Be There.
Other hits include Baby I Need Your Loving, Standing In The Shadows Of Love and Just Ask The Lonely.
They last reached the top 20 in the early 1980s with When She Was My Girl.
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Fakir died surrounded by his wife and loved ones.
Many Motown stars, from the Supremes to Stevie Wonder, grew up in the Detroit-based company founded by Berry Gordy in the late 1950s.
But Fakir, singer Levi Stubbs, Renaldo “Obie” Benson and Lawrence Payton had been together for a decade when Gordy signed them in 1963.
The Four Tops pose at Heathrow Airport in 1966. From left: Abdul Fakir, Levi Stubbs, Lawrence Payton and Renaldo Benson. Photo: AP
Their polished stagecraft and versatile vocal style have allowed them to perform everything from country songs to pop standards like Paper Doll.
They started out as the Four Aims, but soon renamed themselves the Four Tops to avoid confusion with the white harmony quartet the Ames Brothers.
The Tops had recorded for several labels, including Chicago’s famous Chess Records, with little commercial success.
But Gordy and art director Mickey Stevenson paired them with the songwriting and production team of Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland and they quickly got it.
After Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown in 1967, the Tops enjoyed more sporadic success.
They last reached the top 20 in the early 1980s, with the sentimental ballad When She Was My Girl.
They remained a very active concert group, however, and occasionally toured with newer members of the Temptations.
Fakir, of Ethiopian and Bangladeshi origin, was married twice and had seven children.
His marriage to Piper Gibson lasted 50 years.
In the mid-1960s, he was briefly engaged to Mary Wilson of the Supremes.