Levi Stubbs
Levi Stubbs was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States on June 6th, 1936 and is the Rock Singer. At the age of 72, Levi Stubbs biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, movies, and networth are available.
At 72 years old, Levi Stubbs physical status not available right now. We will update Levi Stubbs's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.
Early life and music career
Born in 1936 in Detroit, Stubbs had a brother, Joe, who later became a member of 100 Proof (Aged in Soul), The Falcons, The Contours and The Originals. His cousin was Jackie Wilson. Stubbs attended Detroit Pershing High School, where he met Abdul "Duke" Fakir. He began his professional singing career with friends Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton, forming a singing group called the Four Aims in 1954.
Two years later, after signing with Chess Records, the group changed their name to the Four Tops. The name change was meant to avoid confusion with the then-popular Ames Brothers. The Four Tops began as a supper-club act before signing to Motown Records in 1963. By the end of the decade, they had over a dozen hits. The most popular of their hits (all of which featured Stubbs on lead vocals) include "Ask the Lonely", "Baby I Need Your Loving", "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)", "It's the Same Old Song", "I'll Turn to Stone", "Reach Out I'll Be There", "Standing in the Shadows of Love", "Bernadette", "Still Water (Love)", "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)", as well as the late hit "Loco In Acapulco".
Although Stubbs was a natural baritone, most Four Tops' hits were written in a tenor range to give the lead vocals a sense of urgency.
Despite being the most prominent member of the group, Stubbs refused to have separate billing (in contrast to other Motown acts such as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles and Diana Ross and the Supremes), and he also turned down several offers for a solo career, out of loyalty to his bandmates. Stubbs and the other Tops remained a team until Lawrence Payton died in 1997, at which point Theo Peoples took his place. The Four Tops were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2013. They have sold over 50 million records worldwide.
During the band's long career it was signed to the Motown, ABC Dunhill, Arista and Casablanca record labels, and Stubbs' vocals influenced many later pop and soul artists, such as Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates. Hall has remarked that Stubbs' "unique" style rendered the Four Tops' material "timeless". Other musical peers expressing admiration for the Four Tops' work include Lonnie Jordan of War and Smokey Robinson of The Miracles, among many others.
In 2000, Theo Peoples replaced Stubbs as lead singer after Stubbs suffered a stroke, with Ronnie McNeir taking the place that Lawrence Payton originally held. Renaldo Benson died on July 1, 2005, leaving Duke Fakir as the only surviving member of the Four Tops' original lineup. Stubb's final performance with the Four Tops was at the group's "50th Anniversary Concert" on July 28, 2004 at the Detroit Opera House.
Stubbs provided the voice of the carnivorous plant Audrey II in the 1986 movie version of the musical Little Shop of Horrors, where he sang the Oscar-nominated, "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space." He also was the voice of Mother Brain in the animated TV series Captain N: The Game Master (1989).
Stubbs also guest-starred in a number of TV shows as himself. Berry Gordy offered him the role of Louis McKay in the 1972 film Lady Sings the Blues, which would have starred him opposite Diana Ross as Billie Holiday. Stubbs turned the role down, however, once again not wishing to overshadow the other members of the Four Tops.