As a founding member of the legendary soul and R&B group the Four Tops, Duke Fakir’s music career has spanned more than seven decades. The popular vocal quartet helped define the Motown sound of the 1960s with songs such as “Reach Out, I’ll Be There” and “Baby I Need Your Loving.” However, the gradual hearing loss that Fakir has experienced in his career has made performing increasingly difficult, which eventually led him to embrace Moment hearing aids from Widex.
“While singing on stage I found that I couldn’t hear myself completely, which is critical to staying on key and singing properly. The progression was slow so it took me a while to realize that something needed to be done about it,” Fakir says.
One option was wearing in-ear monitors like his fellow bandmates to focus only on the voices and the drum beat, “but I’m old-school,” Fakir emphasizes. “I like to hear the entire stage while I’m performing—including the horns and rhythm section.” The best solution for Fakir, therefore, was a hearing aid. At age 87, he now wears the Moment hearing aids from Widex and feels more connected to the music than he has in years, he says.
Further reading: iHeartRadio Host Uses Widex Hearing Aids
“The Widex Moment hearing aids are the greatest thing since candy,” Fakir says. “For the first time in a very long time, I can truly hear myself, my inflections, my tone. They’ve upped my level of professionalism to the point where members of the group are noticing a huge improvement. Recently, one of them said, ‘Wow, Duke! Your pitch is brilliant!’
Four years ago, Fakir was fit with Widex’s previous generation of hearing aids, Widex Evoke, by Felix Cruz, hearing instrument specialist and owner of Cruz Hearing Aid Service in Michigan. Fakir was immediately impressed with the sound quality and the experience has only improved since upgrading to Widex Moment.
“When Duke first came to us he said music just wasn’t sounding the way it used to, but he showed immediate improvement wearing Widex Evoke,” Cruz says. “Now, with Widex Moment, he’s taken sound quality to a new level. He’s back to hearing music the way it should sound. For musicians like Duke, there’s no better choice. I’ve personally worn Widex for seven years and have tried every hearing aid under the sun. For me, no one can match the Widex sound. It’s purer, cleaner and richer — all of which are appreciated by musicians and music lovers everywhere.”
For Fakir, the advantages of Widex Moment aren’t just musical. “No matter where I go or what I’m doing, they help tremendously,” he says. “My wife likes to talk quite a bit and now I can hear her more distinctly. She hates repeating herself, so she appreciates being able to say things to me only once.”
Given his roots in the music business, it’s no surprise that Fakir also listens to music for relaxation. While he may have missed certain elements of a song in the past due to hearing problems, now every lyric and instrument is well defined and clear, “especially when I use the app to focus on the music rather than ambient sounds,” Fakir reports.
Whether he’s on stage or relaxing at home, Fakir says he takes full advantage of the various settings available through the Widex Moment companion app; for example, choosing to boost treble tones or bass tones, or focusing only on conversations while blocking out background noise.
“The experience is so personalized and easy to control—like having my own sound studio,” he says. “Plus, they are so comfortable to wear and keep a charge all day. I never need to worry about charging them until I go to bed.”
Featured image: Duke Fakir (left) of the Four Tops with Felix Cruz (right), hearing instrument specialist and owner of Cruz Hearing Aid Service in Michigan. Photo: Widex
