RIP Levi Stubbs (Lead singer of The Four Tops) and thank you for the music...

(WXYZ) - The Motown family is mourning the loss of one of its true legends. Levi Stubbs, the lead singer of the Four Tops, has passed away.

Stubbs was forced to stop performing back in 2000 because of his battle with cancer and a stroke.

He was 72 years old and is survived by his wife of 48 years Clineice and his five children.

Stubbs had one of the most identifiable voices in American History, says Billy J. Willson from the Motown Alumni Association.

Abdul "Duke" Fakir is the Four Tops' only original surviving member of the quartet.

Levi Stubbs was born in Detroit. He's known for hits such as "Baby I Need Your Loving", "Bernadette" and "Reach Out I'll Be There."

The Tops have sold more than 50 million records and have had 45 hits on the charts. In 1990, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Funeral arrangements for Levi Stubbs are pending.

http://www.wxyz.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=6c8d0b7c-1ec7-401b-b756-76d461c78b59&rss=785

RIP Levi Stubbs, may your fine voice live on forever.

here comes another voice in the choir...

"Baby, I Need Your Loving." What a time in history to go through your teens, and in Motown, no less.

I was very fortunate. Thanks, Levi.

I will play a song by some lesser known group such as the Velvelettes or a track by Mary Wells unheard outside of Detroit and as people say they never heard it I realize how lucky I was to grow up with all the B-sides on the radio, hometown stuff that never made it outside of Detroit. What a time that was.

I was an east sider myself, near Gratiot and Eight Mile Road.

And you? A mile away?

nightclub with huge dance place next door...

i'm in there in March '70...Motown Revue is the house band...The Originals on stage (I Hear the Bells)...Aretha having a birthday party for her sister Irma in the club...Gladys & the Pips were arriving at the airport from Europe when I was getting in...THEY showed up to party...

it was a scene that is seared into my memory...i've been a lot of places...and THAT was Detroit at the height of Motown...

I never got there. The racial dividing line, I suppose, which was stupid. I was more of a Grande Ballroom guy. But this is a really cool site; explore and enjoy:

http://soulfuldetroit.com/web04-the20grand/11-20grand-calstreet.htm

i guess the interest had accrued in my memory bank...

:P

:hi:

It's that homemade lye soap that keeps your skin so smooth and supple, honey.

fun fact: I turn 53 on Election Day :)

Many more.

I remember them and "sugar pie honey bunch" so well. I will miss him. He was a star and I had all their albums.

who babysat me when I was 4,5 and six yrs. old, during the summer and when my parents went out. Those 45 records in a case. I'm saddened by the news. I'll be listening to our greatest hits CD tomorrow while doing chores.

:cry:

Heaven's choir just got a whole lot better!

brought me to tears :cry:

I've recently began embracing all the true artists of Motown, etc., and have been buying up their CDs as fast as I can.

Now THAT was and IS "music".

I just got the 4 Tops Greatest Hits CD last month.

I played it at work, nice and loud. We were all grooving.

RIP, Levi.

RIP.

You were da Man!!

Did you know he also voiced the plant in the movie version of "Little Shop of Horrors"?

FEED ME!!! :)

The one moment in "Bernadette" after the silence...then Levi sings her name....it sears you.

you're spot on -- right after the silence.

Damn he was good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaXX5xFcm8E

You were the part of the soundtrack of my youth.

The Four Tops and summers in Wildwood.

There is not one without the other.

:cry:

Levi Stubbs!!!!! Goddess, what a voice we just lost!

Requem en pace, my brother.

That is always one of my favorites.

One of my favorites, too.

:cry:

Levi, you will be missed.

And so much passion and emotion. He definitely left some gems behind. :cry:

RIP, Levi.
:-(

Say it ain't so. MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE. There was/is no one, no voice like Levi. Incomparable. :cry:

I knew he was in poor health for several years, but . . . too young.

"Baby, I Need Your Lovin'" still thrills me as much now as it did when I first heard it.

Levi, RIP. Your music and memory lives on.

What an interpretation. I loved that song. Loved them all, but the pause after he exploded:

Bernadette!

Wow.

I won front row seats to an oldies concert that they headlined some years ago. Best show I have ever attended.

Thank you for the greatest music that ever came out of Motown.

If you believe in forever
Then life is just a one-night stand
If there's a rock and roll heaven
Well you know they've got a hell of a band, band, band

Jimmy gave us rainbows
And Janis took a piece of our hearts
And Otis brought us all to the dock of a bay
Sing a song to light my fire
Remember Jim that way
They've all found another place
Another place to play

If you believe in forever
Then life is just a one-night stand
If there's a rock and roll heaven
Well you know they've got a hell of a band, band, band

Remember bad bad Leroy Brown
Hey Jimmy touched us with that song
Time won't change a friend we came to know
And Bobby gave us Mack the Knife
Well look out, he's back in town
They'll all be there together
When they meet in one big show

If you believe in forever
Then life is just a one-night stand
If there's a rock and roll heaven
Well you know they've got a hell of a band, band, band

There's a spotlight waiting
No matter who you are
'Cause everybody's got a song to sing
Everyone's a star
(Everybody's got to be a star)

If you believe in forever
Then life is just a one-night stand
If there's a rock and roll heaven
Well you know they've got a hell of a band

If you believe in forever
Then life is just a one-night stand
If there's a rock and roll heaven
Well you know they've got a hell of a band

If you believe in forever
Then life is just a one-night stand
If there's a rock and roll heaven
Well you know they've got a hell of a band, band, band

Another star, shining brightly. We'll miss you.