Music
Abdul "Duke" Fakir
1935–2024 · singer
Detroit-born co-founder and last original member of the Four Tops, who sang with the group from 1953 until weeks before his death in 2024.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 88- Birth name
- Abdul Kareem Fakir
- Also known as
- Duke Fakir
- Detroit years
- 1935–2024
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Fakir, the son of a Detroit factory worker from what is now Bangladesh and a mother from Georgia, grew up singing in church and attended Pershing High School, where he played football and ran track. Neighborhood football brought him together with Levi Stubbs, and in 1953–1954 the two joined Northern High students Lawrence Payton and Renaldo "Obie" Benson after singing together at a party; bandleader Maurice King later suggested the name Four Tops. After years on the club circuit, the quartet signed with Motown in 1963 and, with Holland–Dozier–Holland, recorded "I Can't Help Myself" and "Reach Out I'll Be There". The original four stayed together for more than four decades. Fakir kept the group touring after the others died, lived in the Palmer Park area, published a memoir in 2022 that became a Detroit stage musical, and died at home in 2024.
Highlights
- Co-founded the Four Tops in Detroit (1953–1954)
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 1990 with the Four Tops
- Memoir I'll Be There (2022), adapted as a musical premiered in Detroit
- Toured until weeks before his death at 88
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · early 1950s
Pershing High School
He attended Pershing High and played football and ran track here.
Recorded here · 1963–1972
Motown Museum
The Four Tops recorded their Holland–Dozier–Holland hits in Studio A.
Performed here · 1950s–early 1960s
Flame Show Bar
Demolished · 1949–1963
The Four Tops were among the headliners of this John R Street supper club.