“His career has touched the lives of so many people”

Abdul “Duke” Fakir, the last surviving founding member of the Four Tops, died Monday at the age of 88 in his home in Detroit.

Fakir’s family announced the singer’s death in a statement to the New York Times, Billboard and other media outlets, saying the cause of death was heart failure.

“Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the loss of a trailblazer, icon and music legend who touched the lives of so many during his 70-year music career,” the statement said, according to Billboard. Fakir had been in poor health, Billboard said, and had retired from touring and performing at the end of 2023.

The Detroit native, who sang tenor with the Four Tops, appeared on many of the R&B group’s hits, including “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch),” “Bernadette,” “It’s the Same Old Song,” “Reach Out, I’ll Be There” and “Standing In the Shadows of Love.”

Along with the other founding members of the Four Tops – Levi Stubbs, Renaldo “Obie” Benson and Lawrence Payton – Fakir sang classics from the 1960s written and produced by the famous Motown team Holland-Dozier-Holland. After leaving Motown in 1972, the Four Tops continued their streak on other labels with hits such as “Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I’ve Got)”, “Keeper of the Castle” and “Sweet Understanding Love”.

Fakir’s smooth tenor was a distinctive element in the Four Tops’ harmonies, and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the group in 1990. He was a founding member of the troupe, which was formed in the early 1950s as the Four Aims. A few years later, the singers became the Four Tops after signing a contract with Chess Records.

“United by their friendship and love of music, the Four Tops stayed together for forty years,” the Rock Hall website states. “Combine their classic, polished vocals with the brilliant lyrics of Holland-Dozier-Holland at Motown Records and you have an unstoppable hit machine.”

All four original members of the Four Tops remained with the group until their deaths, and their popular legacy continued with new singers. Over the years, Fakir became the troupe’s leader and its most recognizable figure. Lawrence Payton died in 1997, Benson died in 2005, and Stubbs died in 2008. Payton’s son, Lawrence Payton Jr., is in the current lineup.

In 2009, Fakir received a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement with the Four Tops. Two of the Four Tops’ singles, “I Can’t Help Myself” and “Reach Out, I’ll Be There,” are also in the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Fakir’s career memoir, “I’ll Be There – My Life With the Four Tops,” co-written with Kathleen McGhee-Anderson, was published in 2022.

“We loved each other, we loved singing together, we loved making music, we loved entertaining people, and we realized we could make people happy,” Fakir said in an interview with The Detroit News in 2022. “When you have a common goal, which is some kind of love, four people can work together and do whatever it takes to achieve that goal.”