Last Surviving Member Of The Four Tops, Abdul ‘Duke’ Fakir, Dies At 88

Abdul “Duke” Fakir, the last surviving member of the iconic Motown Records group The Four Tops, has died. He was 88.

According to Deadline , Fakir passed in his Detroit home of heart failure. SoulTracks reported he retired on Saturday as the last original group member.

The Four Tops, known as The Four Aims in the 1950s when they were signed to Chess Records, sang background for other Motown artists after signing with the label in 1963, The Independent reported. Everything changed when their cover of the Holland-Dozier-Holland song “Baby I Need Your Loving” came out in 1964, Deadline reported. They were bonafide stars, and from 1964-1973, The Four Tops racked up 17 Top 20 singles from 1964-73, including classics like “I Can’t Help Myself” and “Reach Out I’ll Be There.”

Fakir’s bandmates included lead vocalist Levi Stubbs, Lawrence Payton and Renaldo “Obie” Benson. Fakir’s beloved tenor voice shined in songs like “It’s the Same Old Song,” “Standing in the Shadows of Love” and “Bernadette.”

Though the band made hits, they earned their sole Grammy nomination in 1971 for a Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with “It’s All in the Game.”

The Four Tops parted ways with Motown in the early 1970s and signed with ABC-Dunhill. The move saw them score their first Top 10 hits in five years, “Keeper of the Castle” and “Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I Got).” They continued to perform and record new music into the 1980s and returned to Motown.

Stubbs, Payton and Benson died of cancer between the late 1990s and early 2000s.