Levi Stubbs
Levi Stubbs Jr. actually Levi Stubbles (born June 6, 1936 in Detroit , Michigan ; † October 17, 2008 there ) was the American lead singer of the soul group Four Tops .
Life
Levi Stubbs, a cousin of Jackie Wilson , was a founding member of the rhythm and blues formation The Four Aims in 1954 . In 1956 the group got a recording deal with Chess Records and has been called Four Tops since then . Stubbs, despite being a baritone , became the lead singer of the Four Tops and sang in a higher key on most of the recordings.
The great success of the group came in 1964 with the Motown label, where the Four Tops with titles like Baby I Need Your Loving , I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) or Reach Out I'll Be There the Motown Helped shape the sound of the 1960s. The Four Tops had more than 45 single hits in the charts by the end of the 1980s and sold more than 50 million records. Until the death of Lawrence Payton in 1997, the Four Tops remained active in their original line-up. Stubbs had to retire from the active music business in 2000 for health reasons. He was diagnosed with cancer as early as 1995 and suffered a stroke in the following years .
In addition to participating in the Four Tops , Stubbs was best known for his dubbing of the carnivorous plant Audrey II in the 1986 film version of the musical Little Shop Of Horrors .
Individual evidence
- ↑ LA Times : "Levi Stubbs, lead singer of the Four Tops, dies at 72" , October 17, 2008.
Web links
- Levi Stubbs in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Works by and about Levi Stubbs in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Stubbs, Levi |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Stubbles, Levi (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American singer of the soul group Four Tops |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 6, 1936 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Detroit , Michigan |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 17, 2008 |
| Place of death | Detroit , Michigan |