Levi Stubbs, lead singer of the Four Tops, one of the most successful American pop groups of the 1960s, has died at his home in Detroit. He was 72.
Stubbs was the robust-voiced front man for a string of big hits for the Motown group, including Reach Out (I'll Be There), Standing in the Shadow of Love and Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got).
The Four Tops sold more than 50 million records and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
Abdul "Duke" Fakir is the only surviving original member of the group, who were one of Motown Records' biggest successes.
Founding members Lawrence Payton and Obie Benson died in 1997 and 2005 respectively.
The Four Tops began singing together in the 1950s under the name the Four Aims, before changing their names to the Four Tops to avoid being confused with the Ames Brothers.
The group signed with Motown Records in 1963 and produced 20 Top-40 hits over the following 10 years, making music history with other acts in Berry Gordy's Motown stable.
Audley Smith, of the Motown Historical Museum, said that Levi Stubbs had a voice as unique as Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson or Stevie Wonder.
"[He] fits right up there with all the icons of Motown," he said.
Levi Stubbs was born in 1936 in Detroit and met Fakir at high school. They met Payton and Benson while singing at a mutual friend's birthday party.
Stubbs is survived by his wife Clineice, five children and 11 grandchildren.
