It’s with a heavy heart that I report Anita Pointer of the Grammy Award-winning group, The Pointer Sisters, has passed away.
The singer transitioned to her heavenly home on New Year’s Eve after battling cancer.
According to her publicist, Anita was surrounded by her family at the time of her passing.
Anita Pointer’s sister Ruth, brothers Aaron & Fritz, and granddaughter, Roxie McKain Pointer, released the following statement:
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.
Her love of our family will live on in each of us.
Please respect our privacy during this period of grief and loss.
Heaven is a more loving beautiful place with Anita there.
Anita Marie Pointer was born in Oakland, California on January 23, 1948, she was the fourth of six children to Reverend Elton & Sarah Pointer.
Anita and her sisters grew up singing in their dad’s church. In the tenth grade, Anita played alto sax as a member of the McRae High School band.
In 1969 Anita quit her job as a secretary to join her younger sisters Bonnie, June, and her sister Ruth to form the Pointer Sisters.
The Pointer Sisters released their debut album in 1973, with their single “Yes We Can Can” becoming an instant hit, ranking #11 on the Billboard charts.
They won the Grammy a year later in 1974, with their crossover hit “Fairytale,” from the “That’s a Plenty” album, which Anita wrote with Bonita and Elvis Presley also recorded later.
The group would go on to win two more Grammy awards in 1984 for “Automatic,” part of their bestselling album “Breakout,” later received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994. They also performed at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics closing ceremony.
Among their greatest hits was the R&B sensation “Fire,” which reached #2 on the charts, and “Jump (For My Love).”
Anita Pointer’s only daughter, Jada, died in 2003.
Her death also comes after her sister Bonnie, who was also one of the group’s founding members but left in the mid-1970s for a solo career, died in 2020 at the age of 69.
The youngest sister, June, died in 2006.
My sincerest condolences and prayers to the Pointer family during this difficult time.
Source: Pointer Sisters Website, NBC News
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