Duke Fakir and his friends, Levi Stubbs, Obie Benson and Lawrence Payton, formed the Four Tops in Detroit. They became one of the biggest acts of the 1960s.
"Reach Out I'll Be There" was their second #1 hit on the Billboard chart and the second Motown hit to top the UK charts. Go here to watch them performing the song on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1966.

The public domain photo of Fakir in this episode's thumbnail was taken by Jay Godwin at the LBJ Presidential Library in 2019. It's available on Wikimedia Commons. In the chapters, there's also an image of the album "The Best of Four Tops: 20th Century Masters The Millennium Collection," available in audio CD and on Amazon Music.

Fakir was the last surviving member of the group. His 2022 book, "I'll Be There: My Life with the Four Tops," was co-written with Kathleen McGhee-Anderson. It's also available on Amazon.

This tribute is one of 41 stories that Sheldon Zoldan, a longtime journalist, has written and recorded in honor of the music notables who passed away in 2024. He's written tributes for other years as well. You can listen to the ones from 2023 on Everyday Creation. We'll have the 2022 tributes available later this year.
Sheldon also is the creator of Song of the Day, a story that he sends by email to a list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email [email protected] with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.