Levi Stubbs 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
Eddie Stubbs his own show in 1990 but continued to do odd-jobs such as house-painting to supplement his income. "No one gets rich in radio", he observed. "The Eddie Stubbs Show" on WAMU was discontinued in April 2007. He developed a friendship with the country singer Kitty Wells and her husband, the guitar player and singer Johnnie Wright, and played with them during D.C. area appearances. They eventually convinced Stubbs to move to Nashville in 1995 and join them full-time. But within seventeen days of arriving in the country music capital, he was hired by "The Grand Ole Opry" as a regular