Anita Pointer, one of the founding members of the Pointer Sisters, died Saturday, as per her family. She was 74 year old. “While we are really saddened by the loss of Anita, we are comforted in knowing she is now with her daughter, Jada and her sisters June & Bonnie and at peace,”
her family told in a statement. “She was the one that kept all of us close and together for so long. Her love of our family will live on in each of us.
Heaven is a more loving pretty place with Anita there.” Pointer’s publicist Roger Neal told the Grammy winner was surrounded by family while of her death. The Pointer Sisters — Ruth, Anita, Bonnie and June — grew up singing in a church in Oakland, California,
where their dad was a minister. Bonnie and June first began performing officially as a couple in 1969. With their older sisters Anita and Ruth joining them, the quartet launched their first song in 1973 with “Yes We Can Can” as their first h’it.
The group won 3 total Grammy Awards and had 13 US Top 20 hits between 1973 and 1985. Bonnie Pointer left the group in 1977 for a single career. Ruth, Anita and June reinvented themselves with 1080s pop top like “He’s So Shy,” “Jump (For My Love)” and “Neutron Dance.”
Bonnie and Ruth passed away in 2020 and 2006, respectively; Anita Pointer’s only daughter Jada Pointer died in 2003. “While we are deeply devastated by the loss of Anita, we are comforted in knowing she is currently with her daughter, Jada and her sisters
June & Bonnie and at peace,” the Pointer family told in a statement. “Heaven is a more loving pretty place with Anita there.” The 4 Pointer Sisters started singing together more than 50 years ago in their hometown church in Oakland, California, where their dad ministered.
Bonnie Pointer and her youngest sister, June, made their professional singing debut as a couple in 1969. They after recruited older sisters Anita and Ruth to join them, before launching their first
album together in 1973. The group won their 1st Grammy Award for their crossover hit, “Fairytale,” in 1974. They are also familiar for hits like “Slow Hand,” “Neutron Dance,” and “Jump.”
