# Death comes for us all eventually. Last original member of the Four Tops passes

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-comes-for-us-all-eventually-last-original-member-of-the-four-tops-passes/1004737>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** music\
**Created:** [July 24, 2024, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-comes-for-us-all-eventually-last-original-member-of-the-four-tops-passes/1004737 "2024-07-24T11:25:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-comes-for-us-all-eventually-last-original-member-of-the-four-tops-passes/1004737/1 "2024-07-24T11:25:39Z")

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> **[Abdul "Duke" Fakir, last of the original Four Tops and Motown legend, dies at 88](https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/abdul-duke-fakir-last-of-the-original-four-tops-dies-at-88/)**
>
> The last surviving original member of the Four Tops has died.

There is only one original Temptation left, Otis Williams. He is 82.

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**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-comes-for-us-all-eventually-last-original-member-of-the-four-tops-passes/1004737/2 "2024-07-24T12:03:33Z")

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> [@Biggirl](#):
>
> There is only one original Temptation left, Otis Williams. He is 82.

And on that note:

[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UDx3iCv2XCY/hqdefault.jpg "The Four Tops & The Temptations") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDx3iCv2XCY)

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**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-comes-for-us-all-eventually-last-original-member-of-the-four-tops-passes/1004737/3 "2024-07-24T12:06:24Z")

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Saw them in concert a good 25ish years ago. Could have been longer ago. I’m old, what do I know? Well, I know it was a great show and everyone was dancing in the aisles.

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**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-comes-for-us-all-eventually-last-original-member-of-the-four-tops-passes/1004737/4 "2024-07-24T12:12:07Z")

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I bet they were! I wish I could have experienced that.

They were so damn talented. “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)” is one of my favorite songs, ever.

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**Author:** ![SwissMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-comes-for-us-all-eventually-last-original-member-of-the-four-tops-passes/1004737/5 "2024-07-24T17:13:10Z")

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The Four Tops were noteworthy for their longevity as a group. They had the same lineup (Lawrence Payton, Levi Stubbs, Duke Fakir and Obie Benson) from their formation in 1953 until Payton died in 1997. This was in stark contrast to most of their labelmates at Motown, who typically had numerous lineup changes.