Anita Pointer, a founding member of the Pointer Sisters, died on Saturday, according to her family. She was 74 years old.
“While we are deeply saddened by Anita’s passing, we are comforted in knowing she is now at peace with her daughter, Jada, and her sisters June and Bonnie,” her family said in a statement. “She was the one who held all of us together for so long. Her devotion to our family will live on in each of us. With Anita there, heaven is a more loving and beautiful place.”
Pointer’s only daughter Jada Pointer died in 2003, and her sisters Bonnie and June died in 2020 and 2006 respectively. Pointer’s publicist, Roger Neal, stated that the Grammy winner died surrounded by family.
Ruth, Anita, Bonnie, and June, the daughters of a minister with two older sons, grew up singing in his Oakland, California church. The quartet performed a unique fusion of funk, soul, and 1940s-style jazz, scat, and pop, often dressed in a retro style reminiscent of the Andrews Sisters.
Before releasing their self-titled debut album in 1973, they worked as backup singers for Taj Mahal, Boz Scaggs, Elvin Bishop, and others, and the song “Yes We Can Can,” a funky anthem calling for unity and tolerance, became their breakout hit.
They then released “That’s A Plenty,” which featured a diverse range of musical styles ranging from jazz to gospel to pop.
They even got into country music. Bonnie and Anita co-wrote “Fairytale,” a song about a failing relationship. The song landed them a groundbreaking gig at the Grand Ole Opry as a rare African American act, and they went on to win their first Grammy for best country vocal performance by a group.
Bonnie Pointer left the band in 1977 to pursue a solo career with Motown Records.
Her three sisters, who had nearly disbanded when she left, regrouped, shed their retro image for a modern pop sound, and went on to become one of the biggest acts of the 1980s, with hits such as “He’s So Shy,” “Jump (For My Love),” and “Neutron Dance.”
Following Bonnie Pointer’s death in 2020, Anita Pointer stated that the group “would never have happened if Bonnie hadn’t died.”
