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Abdul ‘Duke’ Fakir, Last Living Original Member of The Four Tops, Dies at 88

Abdul Kareem "Duke" Fakir, the last of the original Four Tops and a stalwart of Motown's golden age, has died at age 88.

Fakir, who co-founded The Four Tops in 1953, had been in poor health, most recently fighting bladder cancer, and had retired from touring late last year. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, which opened the floodgates for a string of hits that included “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch),” “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” “Standing in the Shadows of Love” and “It’s the Same Old Song.” “We were so fortunate in a lot of things we did,” explained Fakir, who was engaged to The Supremes’ Mary Wilson during the mid-’60s but called it off due to their individual career demands.

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