Abdul “Duke” Fakir, the last surviving original member of the Four Tops, has died at 88 years old.
According to Fakir’s family, the singer died from heart failure at his Detroit home on Monday morning (July 22nd).
“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 as he continued to tour until the end of 2023, and officially retired this year,” reads the family’s statement given to the Detroit Free Press.
It continues, “As the last living founding member of the iconic Four Tops music group, we find solace in Duke’s legacy living on through his music for generations to come.”
A native of Detroit, Fakir met future Four Tops bandmate Levi Stubbs during their neighborhood football games. While still in high school, they performed alongside Renaldo “Obie” Benson and Lawrence Payton at a local birthday party. The four singers would eventually form a quartet originally called the Four Aims.
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Upon signing with Chess Records in 1956, the group changed its name to avoid being mixed up with the Ames Brothers. While bouncing around labels including Red Top, Riverside Records, and Columbia Records, the Four Tops developed into veteran performers.
This experience came in handy when they signed with Berry Gordy’s newly-established Motown Records in 1963. Alongside groups like the Temptations and the Supremes, the Four Tops helped establish the label’s signature sound and defined 1960s pop music by bringing soul music to the mainstream.
After reaching No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 with 1964’s “Baby I Need Your Loving,” the Four Tops broke off a string of hit singles including “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” and “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” both of which reached No. 1.
Fakir sang first tenor in the Four Tops, providing harmonies to support the baritone vocals of lead singer Stubbs. The group’s original lineup remained intact over the next three decades and they were successful even after leaving Motown in 1972, scoring Top 10 hits with “Keeper of the Castle” and “Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I’ve Got)” at new label ABC/Dunhill.
The Four Tops’ popularity tailed off beginning in the late ’70s even after a brief return to Motown. Their final Top 40 hit, “Indestructible,” was released on Arista Records in 1988.
Fakir was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 as a part of The Four Tops. In 2009, he received a Grammy lifetime achievement award.
Lawrence Payton became the first founding member of the group to pass away in 1997, and they continued as a trio before recruiting former Temptations member Theo Peoples. Obie Benson and Levi Stubbs would also die from cancer over the next decade in 2005 and 2008, respectively.
Fakir is survived by his wife of 50 years, Piper Fakir, and children Farah Fakir Cook, Nazim Bashir Fakir, Abdul Kareem Fakir, Myke Fakir, Anthony Fakir, and Malik Robinson.
