Abdul “Duke” Fakir was born in Detroit on December 26th, 1935. His early passion for athletics and music led him to sing in choirs at church and in school while playing football, basketball, and running track.
Pictured in third row, second column. Page from Purshing High School year book.
1952-53 Pershing Doughboys basketball team
Through playing sports, Fakir struck up a friendship with a fellow classmate at Pershing High School named Levi Stubbs. Fakir and Stubbs would lead the teams in singalongs on bus trips to games.At a high school graduation party in 1954, they joined forces with Renaldo “Obie” Benson and Lawrence Payton to entertain the crowd. The four singers felt a connection that would remain for their entire lives.
The group initially called themselves the Four Aims, named after their shared goal of aiming for the top of the industry. However, in order to avoid confusion with the then-popular vocal group the Ames Brothers, they renamed themselves the Four Tops. Over the course of their first decade in the industry, the Four Tops recorded singles for Chess and Columbia Records, toured alongside jazz legend and future Motown artist Billy Eckstine, and landed a performance on The Tonight Show that impressed Motown founder Berry Gordy.
In his autobiography To Be Loved, Gordy recalled that the Tops were “already seasoned performers … their vocal blend was phenomenal. Their Jazz-type harmony rang out in five parts even though there were only four voices. Smooth, classy and polished, they were big stuff. I wanted them bad. I could see how loyal they were to each other, and I knew they would be the same way to me and Motown.” The Four Tops signed with Motown in 1963. The following year their debut Motown release, “Baby I Need Your Loving,” broke the group into the charts and helped solidify a hitmaking partnership between the Tops and Motown’s songwriting team of Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian Holland.
Together, The Four Tops and H/D/H scored five top-ten hits including “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch),” “It’s The Same Old Song,” “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” “Standing in the Shadows of Love,” and “Bernadette,” with five more collaborations reaching the top 20. Other hits included the internationally successful “7 Rooms of Gloom,” the Stevie Wonder / Ivy Jo Hunter composition “Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever,” and the Smokey Robinson / Frank Wilson composition “Still Water (Love).” 
The Four Tops’ appearance alongside the Temptations on the Emmy Award winning Motown 25 television special saw the two groups lean into a friendly rivalry, resulting in a combined tour that still packs venues to this day. The Four Tops recorded for Motown in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, always remaining a part of the Motown family.
The loyalty that Berry Gordy recognized between the Four Tops lasted for more than forty years without a single personnel change in the group, separated only by the passing of Lawrence Payton in 1997, Obie Benson in 2005, and Levi Stubbs in 2008. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1997, entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998, were awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009, and have been included in Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2018, The Motown Museum celebrated the 55th anniversary of the Four Tops’ signing to Motown with an exhibit focusing on their career and long-lasting legacy.
Throughout the years, Duke was a constant supporter of the Motown Museum as the last remaining original member of the Four Tops. He lent his time and his talents to exhibit launches, community events, educational programs, roundtable discussions, book signings, and the Hitsville Honors celebration of Motown’s 60th anniversary. Always sharply dressed and with an equally sharp sense of humor, he was gracious and welcoming whether he was alongside Motown Museum visitors, summer campers, program participants, or his fellow Motown alumni.
On July 22nd, 2024, Duke Fakir passed away at his home in Detroit after decades of entertaining the world. For the music he made with The Four Tops, and for his work to keep the legacy of Motown alive, the Motown Museum will continue to celebrate Abdul “Duke” Fakir.
