Four Tops

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U.S. vocal male soul quartet formed in 1953, in Detroit as The Four Aims. They made their recording debut in 1955 backing Carolyn Hayes on her [r=14249101] single. The four founding members remained together for over four decades, until 1997 without a single change in personnel. In the 60's they were the main male vocal group for the signwriting and production team of Holland-Dozier-Holland. After Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown in 1967, the Four Tops were assigned to several producers, primarily Frank Wilson. When Motown left Detroit in 1972 to move to Los Angeles, California, the Tops stayed in Detroit and moved over to ABC Records, where they continued to have charting singles into the late-1970s. Since the 1980s, the Four Tops have recorded for, at various times, Motown, Casablanca Records and Arista. Inducted into Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 (Performer). Sometimes credited as "The Four Tops"

Line-Up Chronology: Lawrence Payton (1953-1997) Levi Stubbs (1953-2000) Renaldo "Obie" Benson (1953-2005) Abdul "Duke" Fakir (1953-present) Theo Peoples (1998-present) Ronnie McNeir (2000-present) Roquel Payton (2005-present)

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The Four Tops are an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1953 as the Four Aims. They were one of the most commercially successful American pop music groups of the 1960s and helped propel Motown Records to international fame. The group's repertoire has incorporated elements of soul, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes. Lead singer Levi Stubbs, along with backing vocalists Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton remained together in the group for over four decades, performing until 1997 without a change in personnel. Along with fellow Motown groups the Miracles, the Marvelettes, Martha and the Vandellas, the Temptations, and the Supremes, the Four Tops helped to establish the "Motown sound"; pop-friendly soul and R&B with a clean, polished production quality. They were notable for having Stubbs, a baritone, as their lead singer, whereas most other male and mixed vocal groups of the time were fronted by tenors. The group was the primary male vocal group for the highly successful songwriting and production team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, who wrote numerous hit singles for Motown. These included two Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits for the Tops: "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" in 1965 and "Reach Out I'll Be There" in 1966. The group continued to chart singles into the 1970s, including the million-seller "Ain't No Woman" (1973). The Four Tops were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999, and the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2013. In 2010, Rolling Stone ranked them No. 79 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". On July 20, 2024, the last surviving original member, Fakir, retired. He died two days later.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Tops