Anita Pointer, one of the founding members of the Pointer Sisters, died Saturday, her family said. She was 74.
“While we are deeply saddened by the loss of Anita, we are comforted to know that she is now with her daughter Jada and sisters June and Bonnie and at peace,” her family said in a statement. “She was the one who kept us all close and together for so long. Her love for our family will live on in each of us. … Heaven is a more loving, beautiful place with Anita there.”
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 said the Grammy winner was surrounded by her family at the time of her death.
Anita Pointer William Norton
Ruth, Anita, Bonnie, and June, born daughters of a pastor who also had two older sons, grew up singing at his church in Oakland, California. The quartet brought a unique 1940s-style fusion of funk, soul and jazz, scat and pop, often dressed in a retro style resembling their forerunners, the Andrews Sisters.
They worked as backup singers for Taj Mahal, Boz Scaggs, Elvin Bishop and others before releasing their self-titled debut album in 1973, and the song “Yes We Can Can,” a funky anthem calling for unity and tolerance, became their breakthrough hit .
They followed with “That’s A Plenty”, which featured an eclectic mix of musical styles from jazz to gospel to pop.
They even dove into the land. Bonnie and Anita co-wrote the song “Fairytale” about a falling relationship. The song earned them a breakthrough performance as a rare African American act on the Grand Ole Opry, and they won their first Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Group.
Bonnie Pointer left the group in 1977 and signed a solo deal with Motown Records. Her three sisters, who almost disbanded when she quit, regrouped instead, shedding their retro image in favor of a modern pop sound and becoming one of the biggest acts of the 1980s with huge hits like “He’s So Shy”, “Jump (For My Love)” and “Neutron Dance”.
After Bonnie Pointer’s death in 2020, Anita Pointer said the group “would never have happened without Bonnie.”
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