The Four Tops, shown in 1990 are, from left, Renaldo (Obie) Benson, Levi Stubbs, Abdul Fakir and Lawrence Payton. Fakir is now the only surviving member. (Associated Press)

Levi Stubbs, the lead singer with Motown band the Four Tops, has died at his home in Detroit. He was 72.

Stubbs died Friday after a battle with cancer and a stroke.

Stubbs was the powerful voice who drove Four Tops' hits such as Baby, I Need Your Loving, I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) and Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got.)

"He had one of the most prolific and identifiable voices in American history," Billy J. Wilson of the Motown Alumni Association said in an interview with Billboard. "It's a deep loss, to the entire Motown family and to the world."

Smokey Robinson remembered Stubbs Friday as "one of the great voices of all time."

Singer Levi Stubbs, shown in 2000, was the powerful voice behind the Four Tops hits such as Ain't No Woman and I'll Be There. (Reuters)

Stubbs joined with friends Abdul Fakir, Renaldo (Obie) Benson and Lawrence Payton to form a singing group in Detroit in 1954, right after he had finished high school.

Initially they were a supper-club act called the Four Aims, but later changed their name to the Four Tops.

Fakir is now the only surviving member of the group. Payton died in 1997 and Benson in 2005.

The group performed for more than four decades together without a change of personnel.

They recorded for the Chess, Red Top and Columbia labels before Motown founder Berry Gordy lured them to Motown Records in 1963.

The in-house songwriting and production team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland created a string of songs for the group between 1964 and 1967 and Stubbs's bold voice helped turn them into hits.

Their first big hit was 1964's Baby I Need Your Loving.

In an interview Friday, Gordy remembered first hearing that song in the studio.

"Levi's voice exploded in the room and went straight for our hearts. We all knew it was a hit, hands down," he said.

"It is not only a tremendous personal loss for me, but for the Motown family, and people all over the world who were touched by his rare voice and remarkable spirit," Gordy said. "Levi was the greatest interpreter of songs I've ever heard."

With Motown Records, the group went on to create It's the Same Old Song, Reach Out (I'll Be There), Standing in the Shadows of Love and Bernadette.

The Tops also recorded River Deep-Mountain High with the Supremes after Diana Ross had left.

They changed record label in 1972 after Motown left Detroit, but rejoined in 1983.

The Four Tops continued to perform together, often reprising their hits of 1960s and 1970s, until Benson's death in 1997. After that they performed as the Tops, but Stubbs stopped performing in 2000.

Stubbs provided the voice of the carnivorous plant Audrey II in the 1986 movie version of Little Shop of Horrors and also was the voice of Mother Brain in the 1989 animated TV series Captain N: The Game Master.

Stubbs has also guest starred in a number of TV shows as himself.

The Four Tops were inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland in 1990.

Stubbs leaves his wife of 48 years, Clineice, and five children.

With files from the Associated Press