Duke Fakir was a singer best known as the last surviving founder of legendary Motown group the Four Tops.
- Died: July 22, 2024 (Who else died on July 22?)
- Details of death: Died in Detroit of heart failure at the age of 88.
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Duke Fakir’s legacy
Detroit-born Abdul Kareem “Duke” Fakir met the first of who would become the Four Tops, Levi Stubbs (1936–2008), while still in high school. The pair sang together, enjoyed it, and eventually invited Lawrence Payton (1938–1997) and Renaldo “Obie” Benson (1936–2005) to join them, too. With that, the Four Tops were born. Their lineup would remain unchanged for another four decades, altering only when Payton died in 1997.
Fakir and the Four Tops enjoyed regional popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s but did not break through until signing with the then-new label, Motown Records, in 1963. Hits soon followed, with “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” going to No. 1 in June 1965, followed by another No. 1 hit, “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” a year later. By the late 1960s, the Four Tops were the second most successful Motown act in the U.S., behind only The Temptations, and enjoyed over a dozen hit songs.
The quartet’s legacy lasted decades, from the 1950s to today. Even as original members passed away, Fakir kept the torch alive, handling the band’s affairs and bringing in new members so they could keep performing. He was still on stage with the Four Tops just weeks before his death.
As a Four Tops member, Fakir was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and is in the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. The Grammy Awards honored him and his group members both with a Lifetime Achievement Award and induction into its Hall of Fame.
On keeping the Four Tops’ legacy alive:
“I feel very fortunate that I’m here to carry it over, and I love doing it, because I think that my brothers who’ve gone on, they would have wanted me to do this, to keep the name going, because they worked very hard, and for a long time in establishing that. So, I feel honored that I’m here to do that.” — Interview with Eon Music, 2019
Tributes to Duke Fakir
Full obituary: Detroit Free Press
