Abdul ‘Duke’ Fakir, last original member of Four Tops, dies aged 88
Fakir later toured as the Four Tops with lead vocalist Alexander Morris, Ronnie McNeir and Lawrence ‘Roquel’ Payton Jr., the son of Lawrence Payton.
“As each one of them (the original members) passed, a little bit of me left with them,” Fakir told UK Music Reviews in 2021.
“When Levi left us, I found myself in a quandary as to what I was going to do from that moment on but after a while I realised that the name together with the legacy that they had left us simply had to carry on, and judging by the audience reaction it soon became pretty evident that I did the right thing and I really do feel good about that.”
Besides the Rock Hall of Fame, their honours included being voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998 and receiving a Grammy lifetime achievement award in 2009.
Fakir was married twice, for the last 50 years to Piper Gibson, and had seven children. Six survive him.
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