Abdul “Duke” Fakir, the final surviving unique member of the 4 Tops, has died at 88 years previous.
Based on Fakir’s household, the singer died from coronary heart failure at his Detroit dwelling on Monday morning (July twenty second).
“Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the lack of a trailblazer, icon, and music legend who, by way of his 70-year music profession, touched the lives of so many as he continued to tour till the top of 2023, and formally retired this 12 months,” reads the household’s assertion given to the Detroit Free Press.
It continues, “Because the final dwelling founding member of the enduring 4 Tops music group, we discover solace in Duke’s legacy dwelling on by way of his music for generations to return.”
A local of Detroit, Fakir met future 4 Tops bandmate Levi Stubbs throughout their neighborhood soccer video games. Whereas nonetheless in highschool, they carried out alongside Renaldo “Obie” Benson and Lawrence Payton at a neighborhood party. The 4 singers would ultimately type a quartet initially referred to as the 4 Goals.
Upon signing with Chess Data in 1956, the group modified its title to keep away from being combined up with the Ames Brothers. Whereas bouncing round labels together with Purple Prime, Riverside Data, and Columbia Data, the 4 Tops developed into veteran performers.
This expertise got here in helpful once they signed with Berry Gordy’s newly-established Motown Data in 1963. Alongside teams just like the Temptations and the Supremes, the 4 Tops helped set up the label’s signature sound and outlined Nineteen Sixties pop music by bringing soul music to the mainstream.
After reaching No. 11 on the Billboard Scorching 100 with 1964’s “Child I Want Your Loving,” the 4 Tops broke off a string of hit singles together with “I Can’t Assist Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” and “Attain Out I’ll Be There,” each of which reached No. 1.
Fakir sang first tenor within the 4 Tops, offering harmonies to assist the baritone vocals of lead singer Stubbs. The group’s unique lineup remained intact over the following three a long time they usually have been profitable even after leaving Motown in 1972, scoring Prime 10 hits with “Keeper of the Citadel” and “Ain’t No Girl (Just like the One I’ve Acquired)” at new label ABC/Dunhill.
The 4 Tops’ reputation tailed off starting within the late ’70s even after a short return to Motown. Their last Prime 40 hit, “Indestructible,” was launched on Arista Data in 1988.
Fakir was inducted into the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame in 1990 as part of The 4 Tops. In 2009, he obtained a Grammy lifetime achievement award.
Lawrence Payton grew to become the primary founding member of the group to go away in 1997, they usually continued as a trio earlier than recruiting former Temptations member Theo Peoples. Obie Benson and Levi Stubbs would additionally die from most cancers over the following decade in 2005 and 2008, respectively.
Fakir is survived by his spouse of fifty years, Piper Fakir, and kids Farah Fakir Cook dinner, Nazim Bashir Fakir, Abdul Kareem Fakir, Myke Fakir, Anthony Fakir, and Malik Robinson.