FLORENCE — “Sugar pie, honey bunch, you know that I love you …”
For those of you who can finish those lyrics or name that tune, this year’s opening concert for the Shoals Symphony season is sure to be a sweet treat. And if you don’t know the song, it’s an opportunity to learn it from one of the greatest groups in rock ‘n’ roll history.
The Four Tops, Motown legends and members of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, will join the Shoals Symphony for its season launch. With a career spanning 70 years and a catalog of hits, The Four Tops will deliver a nostalgic and energetic performance.
The show will be the first time since 2016 that the group will be performing with an orchestra, promising a unique experience.
UNA’s Norton Auditorium will host The Four Tops Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. Their soulful harmonies will have you singing along to 1960s classics like “Baby I Need Your Loving,” “I Can’t Help Myself”(their first No. 1), and “Reach Out, I’ll Be There.” The group continued to have hits into the 1970s, including the million-seller “Ain’t No Woman” from 1973.
The group started its musical career at a Detroit house party in 1954 with members Levi Stubbs, Abdul “Duke” Fakir, Renaldo “Obie” Benson, and Lawrence Payton.
Amazingly, The Four Tops were together without a personnel change for 43 years, from 1954 until 1997, when Payton died. Benson died in 2005, and Stubbs in 2008. Fakir, the remaining original member, continues to perform with Alexander Morris, Ronnie McNeir (born in Camden), and Roquel Payton, son of Lawrence Payton.
They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked them No. 79 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
For tickets, visit ShoalsSymphony.org, call 256-710-1623, or visit https://ci.ovationtix.com/35901/production/1159260.
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