Anita Pointer is dead. The member of the band The Pointer Sisters died on Saturday December 31, 2022 at the age of 74.
Pointer’s environment confirmed the death in an official statement. “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 is at peace,” the statement, issued by her publicist Roger Neal, said. “She was the one that kept us all together and together for so long. Her love for our family will live on in each of us. Please respect our privacy at this time of sorrow and loss. Heaven is a loving, beautiful place with Anita there.”
Legendary band
Sisters June and Bonnie formed the Pointer Sisters in 1969. In 1973, the band expanded to include their two sisters, Anita and Ruth. The group’s first major pop hit was “Yes We Can Can,” written by Allen Toussaint. The 1974 ballad “Fairytale,” written by Bonnie and June, became a hit on the country charts and earned the group their first of three Grammys. The group had a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s, beginning with their version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Fire,” which reached #2 on the US pop chart in 1978. Other major hits from the band included “He’s So Shy”, “Slow Hand”, “I’m So Excited”, “Neutron Dance” and “Jump (For My Love)”.
Anita Pointer is survived by her sister Ruth Pointer, brothers Aaron Pointer and Fritz Pointer, and granddaughter Roxie McKain Pointer.
+++ This article first appeared on rollingstone.de +++