Anita Pointer, a member of The Pointer Sisters who achieved international success and acclaim, died Saturday at 74, according to her publicist. Several family members were with the Grammy winner when she passed away, publicist Roger Neal said, per Associated Press. An official cause of death has not yet been announced, but Pointer’s rep told TMZ her death resulted from a “somewhat lengthy and heroic battle with cancer. “While we are deeply 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. She was the one that kept all of us close and together for so long,” said sister Ruth, brothers Aaron and Fritz, and granddaughter Roxie McKain Pointer in a statement. The singer was born on Jan. 23, 1948, in Oakland, Calif., the fourth of six children born to Sarah Elizabeth and Reverend Elton Pointer. Together with her younger sisters Bonnie and June, Pointer formed the legendary Pointer Sisters in 1969.
After reaching No. 13 on the Billboard 200 and No. 3 on the R&B albums chart with their self-titled debut album in 1973, the group quickly rose to fame. “I’m So Excited,” “Jump,” “Slow Hand,” “Fire,” “He’s So Shy,” and “Neutron Dance” were among the sisters’ biggest hits during the 1970s and 1980s. Throughout their careers, the sisters broke barriers and achieved acclaim worldwide. In 1974, The Pointer Sisters became the first Black female group to perform at the Grand Ole Opry after the success of their country single “Fairytale,” written by Anita and Bonnie. It was also the song that won the group its first Grammy Award for best country performance by a duo or group in 1975. To date, the Pointer Sisters are the only Black women to win a Grammy for country music. Anita’s 1986 duet, “Too Many Times,” with country star Earl Thomas Conley, would reach No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.
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After the release of her first solo album, Love for What It Is, a year later, Anita continued to perform with the Pointer Sisters until she retired for unspecified health reasons in 2015. Anita and her sisters were inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame in 1998, and in 1994, they received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In February 2020, Anita and her brother Fritz Pointer published Fairytale: The Pointer Sisters’ Family Story to chronicle the Pointer family’s origins and the hardships and triumphs the sisters faced during their lives. Her sisters, June and Bonnie, who died in 2006 and 2020, preceded her in death. She shared her only child, Jada, with David Harper, and she inspired the song ‘Jada.’ In 2003, Jada died from cancer at 37. In addition to her granddaughter (Jada’s only child), Roxie, Anita is survived by her sister, Ruth, and brothers, Aaron and Fritz.
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Mid shot of smiling American gospel singers and twins, Andrae and Sandra Crouch, posing backstage after accompanying singer Jennifer Holiday during an annual award ceremony, photographed by Clarence Gatson, San Francisco, California, 1985. (Photo by Clarence Gatson Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
