Abdul “Duke” Fakir, the last remaining original member of the Four Tops, died on Monday at age 88 at 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, and said the cause was heart failure.
“Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the loss of a trailblazer, icon and music legend who, through his 70-year music career, touched the lives of so many,” the statement said, according to Billboard. Fakir had been in poor health, Billboard said, and had retired from touring and performing in late 2023.
The Detroit native, who sang tenor for the Four Tops, could be heard on the R&B group’s many 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 original members of the Four Tops — Levi Stubbs, Renaldo “Obie” Benson and Lawrence Payton — Fakir sang on 1960s classics written and produced by the famed Motown team known as Holland-Dozier-Holland. After leaving Motown in 1972, the Four Tops continued their winning 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.”
The Four Tops pose at Heathrow airport in London in a Nov. 16, 1966 file photo, en route to the United States. From left: Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Levi Stubbs, Lawrence Payton and Renaldo Benson.(AP Photo, File)
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 originated in the early 1950s as the Four Aims. A few years later, the singers became the Four Tops after signing with Chess Records.
“United by their friendship and a love of music, the Four Tops stuck together for forty years,” the Rock Hall website says. “Mix their classy, polished vocals with the brilliant songwriting 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 beloved legacy has continued with new singers. Over the years, Fakir became the leader of the troupe 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.
With the Four Tops, Fakir earned a lifetime achievement award from the Grammys in 2009. Two Four Tops singles, “I Can’t Help Myself” and “Reach Out, I’ll Be There,” also are in the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Fakir’s memoir about his career, ”I’ll Be There — My Life With the Four Tops,” written with Kathleen McGhee-Anderson, was published in 2022.
“We loved each other, we loved singing with each other, we loved making music, we loved entertaining people, and we realized we can make people happy,” Fakir said in a 2022 interview with The Detroit News. “If you have one common goal, which is love of some sort, four people can work together and do whatever it takes to reach that goal.”