Tributes flowed in for Four Tops frontman Levi Stubbs, whose dynamic and emotive voice drove such Motown hits as Reach Out (I'll Be There)and Baby I Need Your Loving, after he died yesterday aged 72.
He had been ill recently and died in his sleep at the Detroit house he shared with his wife, said Dana Meah, the wife of one of his grandsons. The Wayne County medical examiner's office also confirmed the death.
With Stubbs singing the lead, the Four Tops sold millions of records and performed for more than four decades without a change in line-up.
Stubbs's death leaves one surviving member of the original group: Abdul "Duke" Fakir.
"Levi Stubbs was one of the great voices of all times," former Motown labelmate Smokey Robinson said in a statement.
"He was very near and dear to my heart. He was my friend and my brother, I miss him. God bless his family and comfort them."
The Four Tops began singing together in 1953 under the group name the Four Aims and signed a deal with Chess Records. They later changed their names to the Four Tops to avoid being confused with the Ames Brothers.
They also recorded for Red Top, Riverside and Columbia Records and toured supper clubs.
The Four Tops signed with Motown Records in 1963 and produced 20 top 40 hits over the next 10 years, making music history with the other acts in Berry Gordy's Motown stable.
Their biggest hits were recorded between 1964 and 1967 with the in-house songwriting and production team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland. Both 1965's
I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)and 1966's
Reach Outwent to No 1 in the Billboard pop chart.
Other hits included
Shake Me, Wake Me(1966),
Bernadetteand
Standing In The Shadows Of Love(both 1967).
The Four Tops toured for decades after their heyday and reached the charts as late as 1988 with
Indestructibleon Arista Records.
In 1986, Stubbs provided the voice for Audrey II, the man-eating plant in the film
Little Shop Of Horrors.
The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Original Top Lawrence Payton died of liver cancer in 1997. Renaldo "Obie" Benson died of lung cancer in 2005.
Stubbs had not done much performing in recent years due to his declining health, but was known to step up on stage from time to time when a Motown touring production came through Detroit.
He was born in 1936 and attended the city's Pershing High School, where he sang with Fakir. They met fellow Detroiters Payton and Benson while singing at a mutual friend's birthday party, then decided to form a group.
"These are four of the greatest people I have ever known. They were major pros even before they came to Motown," Gordy said when the Four Tops' star was unveiled in Hollywood.
Stubbs is survived by his wife, five children and 11 grandchildren.
Reuters