The Motown Group That Kept Its Original Lineup For A Record 43 Years

Motown Records would never have become a musical institution without the vocal groups that took so many of its songs to the top of the charts in the '60s. While the label had its share of legendary songwriters and later signed acts that would make Billboard chart history, its first crop of acts might have been the best. These include the hit-machine Supremes, the Miracles — responsible for Motown's first million-seller – and the bar-setting Temptations. But Motown's most consequential — and longest-lasting — act of the period may have been a quartet of sensational singers who did more than just interpret hits: The Four Tops.

Motown's biggest groups were often beset by lineup changes: Diana Ross left the Supremes for a solo career, as did Smokey Robinson of the Miracles, and members of the Temptations were starting to drop off by the '70s. But the Four Tops defied the odds, not only recording over 20 Top 40 hits for the label (including two No. 1s) but retaining their classic lineup for more than four decades — even longer than their time with the label.

The Four Tops first came together in the early '50s as the Four Aims — four Detroit high schoolers whose harmonies at a birthday party proved irresistible. Abdul "Duke" Fakir and Lawrence Payton were tenors, Renaldo "Obie" Benson was the group's bass, and though his natural register was baritone, Levi Stubbs sang as a lead tenor, offering an impassioned quality to his vocals. They recorded their first single for the blues label Chess in 1956, changing their name to the Four Tops to differentiate themselves from the white pop quartet the Ames Brothers.

While the Four Tops recorded for labels like the New York jazz label Riverside and pop powerhouse Columbia Records, success eluded them until Motown founder Berry Gordy signed the group in 1963. While they were initially eyed for the company's short-lived Workshop Jazz imprint, they were wisely tapped for the main Motown roster when they cut a track by the Holland-Dozier-Holland writing team, who were just starting to hit their stride working with the Supremes.

The Four Tops' 1964 Motown debut, "Baby I Need Your Loving," just missed the Top 10, but there were plenty more to come thanks to the Holland-Dozier-Holland powerhouse. "Standing in the Shadows of Love," "Bernadette," "It's the Same Old Song," "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)," and "Reach Out I'll Be There" were all Top 10s, with the latter two topping the charts.

While other Motown acts started to fracture over time, the Four Tops stayed together. Renaldo Benson, Abdul Fakir, Lawrence Payton, and Levi Stubbs found success over the decades with other labels, including the hits "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)" and "When She Was My Girl." Together, the Four Tops joined a roster of all-stars at Live Aid in 1985, collaborated with hitmakers like Aretha Franklin and Phil Collins, and earned induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Indeed, the only thing that could break the group up was time. Payton died of cancer in 1997, followed by Benson in 2005 and Stubbs (whose health issues prompted him to retire years earlier) in 2008. Duke Fakir remained with the group until 2023, retiring shortly before his death the next year. The Four Tops continue to perform with a lineup that includes Lawrence Payton Jr., former Motown singer Ronnie McNeir, and Theo Peoples, a one-time member of the Temptations.

But no matter how many original members were together, Fakir felt the audience was what kept the Four Tops going. "We're just hard working guys from Detroit with shiny jackets," he told The Quietus. "[Fans] pay the wage, they buy the records, they come to the concerts and get up on the stage and dance, they show you love. It's really awesome!"