His name was Abdul Fakir, but he was known as "Duke." He'd been with the Four Tops since their first hit, "Baby I Need Your Lovin'," which he said helped him buy his mother her own home. More success was to follow, including the classic "I Can't Help Myself." 

Oddly, the New York Times article doesn't name my personal fave - "I'll Turn To Stone." But their incredible catalogue still speaks - and sings - for itself. 

And it all could have been over so much earlier. 

"In December [1988], the group was booked on the Pan Am flight that terrorists brought down over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people. The Tops had overslept and missed the flight."

Fakir was 88. 

Duke Fakir, Last Surviving Member of the Four Tops, Dies at 88