DETROIT — Four Tops frontman Levi Stubbs, whose dynamic and emotive voice drove such Motown classics as "Reach Out (I'll Be There)" and "Baby I Need Your Loving," died Friday at 72.
He had been ill recently and died in his sleep at the Detroit house he shared with Clineice Stubbs, his wife of 48 years, said Dana Meah, the wife of a grandson. The Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office also confirmed the death.
With Stubbs in the lead, the Four Tops sold millions of records and performed for more than four decades without a change in personnel.
"Levi Stubbs was one of the great voices of all times," former Motown labelmate Smokey Robinson said. "He was very near and dear to my heart."
The Four Tops began singing together in 1953 under the name the Four Aims and signed a deal with Chess Records. They later changed the name to the Four Tops.
People are also reading…
They also recorded for Red Top, Riverside and Columbia Records and toured supper clubs.
The group 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 Out" went to No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart.
Other hits included "Shake Me, Wake Me" (1966), "Berna-dette" and "Standing in the Shadows of Love" (both 1967).
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 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
