Levi Stubbs
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| Levi Stubbs | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Levi Stubbles |
| Born | June 6, 1936 |
| Origin | Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. |
| Genre(s) | R&B/soul |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, actor |
| Years active | 1954 - 2000 |
| Label(s) | Motown |
| Associated acts | The Four Tops |
Levi Stubbs (born Levi Stubbles) (born June 6, 1936) is an American singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the famed Motown R&B group The Four Tops.
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[edit] The Four Tops
Born in The Bahamas, Stubbs began his professional singing career with friends Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton to form the Four Aims in 1954. Two years later, the group changed their name to the Four Tops. The group began as a supper-club act before finally signing to Motown Records in 1963; by the end of the decade, The Four Tops had over a dozen hits to their name. The most popular of the Four Tops hits, all of which featured Stubbs on lead vocals, include "Baby I Need Your Loving", "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)", "It's the Same Old Song", "Reach Out I'll Be There", "Standing in the Shadows of Love", "Bernadette", "Still Water (Love)", and "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)".
Although Stubbs is a natural baritone, most of the Four Tops' hits were written in a tenor range to give the lead vocals a sense of urgency. Stubbs and the other Tops remained a team until Payton died in 1997, at which point Theo Peoples took his place. The Four Tops were elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. Benson also died on July 1, 2005.
[edit] Other work
As an actor, credited as Levi Stubbs, Jr., he provided the voice of the carnivorous plant "Audrey II" in the movie version of the musical, Little Shop of Horrors (1986) and the voice of Mother Brain in the animated TV series Captain N: The Game Master (1989). Stubbs has also guest starred in a number of TV shows as himself.
[edit] Honourable Mentions
Stubbs is (obviously) mentioned in the Billy Bragg song Levi Stubb's Tears, a moving story of pain, loss and heartache which can be found at track 5 on the album Talking with the Taxman about Poetry
[edit] Personal life
Stubbs and his wife Clineice have been married since 1960, and have had five children. In 1995, Stubbs was diagnosed with cancer, and later, a stroke, and therefore no longer tours. Since 2000, Theo Peoples has taken Stubbs' place as the lead singer of The Four Tops, with Ronnie McNeir taking the place that Payton originally held.
