He was best known as a founding member and the bass singer of Motown group the Four Tops, which he joined in 1953 and continued to perform with for over five decades, until April 8, 2005.

[2] The pair met Levi Stubbs and Abdul "Duke" Fakir while singing at a friend's birthday party in 1954 and decided to form a group called the Four Aims.

The group changed their name to the Four Tops to avoid confusion with the Ames Brothers and had one single "Kiss Me Baby" released through Chess which failed to chart.

Benson and the other members already knew Barrett Strong, as he had written songs with Davis for Jackie Wilson including "Lonely Teardrops".

Peoples soon became the lead vocalist, as Levi Stubbs fell ill, and Ronnie McNeir took Payton's place.

[1] When he returned to Detroit after the tour ended, the experience inspired Benson to start writing the first draft of "What's Going On".

[1] He worked on the song with lyricist Al Cleveland, who was renting the upstairs section of Benson's duplex.

He approached Joan Baez to record the song while appearing on a British television show, but she declined.

When Benson's leg was amputated in early 2005 due to circulation problems, doctors discovered cancer in his lungs.

Media coverage of Benson's death was almost completely overshadowed by that of another R&B star, Luther Vandross, who also died on the same day.