Anita Pointer, who rose to fame in the 1970s as a member of the hit sibling singing group Pointer Sisters, died on Saturday at the age of 74. No cause of death was given, but her publicist said she died surrounded by her family.
“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,” read a statement shared with her four closest survivors is attributed to – a sister Ruth, brothers Aaron and Fritz and their granddaughter Roxie McKain Pointer. “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. Please respect our privacy at this time of sorrow and loss. Heaven is a loving beautiful place with Anita there.”
Anita has been with the Oakland-based group since its inception in 1969 until she was forced to retire in 2015 due to unspecified health reasons.
The Pointer Sisters had a straight hit album in 1973 when their self-titled debut release reached #13 on the album chart. Her first major hit single was a recording of Allen Toussaint’s “Yes We Can Can,” which narrowly missed the top 10, peaking at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #12 on the R&B chart.
Ditching the nostalgic look they’d started out with, the sisters had their first and only No. 1 hit on the R&B charts in 1975 with “How Long (Betcha Got a Chick on the Side).” It would be a few more years before they cracked the top 10 on the Hot 100, but once they did, the floodgates opened.
This phenomenal pop success began with a version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Fire” that reached #2 on the pop chart in 1978. Anita recalled in an interview with Goldmine about the Springsteen song: “I told Richard Perry that there’s such a big voice on this song, that maybe he wanted Ruthie to sing the lead vocals, since she had the big voice, but he said, “No. I want you to sing it.” So I did and it became our first gold single and I was just so excited.”
Then came the hits until the mid-1980s. In 1980, “He’s So Shy” peaked at #3. “Slow Hand” peaked at #2 in 1981. “Neutron Dance” peaked at #6 in 1984, and “Jump (for My Love)” peaked at #3 that same year. Another major hit of the era, “Automatic” peaked at No. 5 in 1984. “I’m So Excited,” a track featuring lead vocals from Anita, was only a minor hit for the sisters in 1982, but was celebrated once again. was released in remixed form in 1984 and peaked at number 9 this time.
The group also found success on the real stage and screen, touring with “Ain’t Misbehavin'” based on Fats Waller’s song catalog and appearing in the hit 1976 comedy film Car Wash.
The pop hit streak ended in the mid-’80s, when 1985’s single “Dare Me” peaked at No. 11, marking the last time the Pointer Sisters made the Top 20 after disappearing completely from the charts in the early ’90s years ago, the sisters had a final chart hit in 2005 with “Christmas in New York,” which peaked at number 21 on the adult contemporary chart.
For as often as the sisters have been held at No. 2 or 3 in their string of still-ubiquitous songs, they had a touch of No. 1 in 1985 as the lead actresses on the all-star charity single “We Are the World.”
Her biggest single album by far was 1983’s “Break Out,” which went three times platinum; it was the LP that contained “Neutron Dance”, “Jump” and “Automatic”. It was reissued in 1984 adding the new version of “I’m So Excited” sung and co-written by Anita to the lineup.
The group received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994.
The group’s three Grammys include one in a country category for the 1974 song “Fairytale,” a trivial point that often comes up when discussing the genre’s lack of black representation. Anita explained that her love of country music came naturally to her because they spent summers with relatives in Arkansas, where they only listened. “I just remember listening to a radio station from Arkansas,” Anita said. “Everything they played was country music: Hank Williams’ ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart,’ Tex Ritter’s ‘Don’t Forsake Me Oh My Darlin,’ and Willie Nelson’s ‘Funny How Time Slips Away.’ The only time I heard black artists was when I snuck into the local juke joints and put my ear to the door…. To me it was all good music. With country, I really liked the short story format.” The group performed legendary at the 1974 Grand Ole Opry.
Pointer and her brother Fritz were collaborating on a family memoir titled Fairytale in 2020.
Two other sisters who have been with the group for most of its existence preceded Anita in death – June Pointer in 2006 and Bonnie Pointer in 2020.
Ruth Pointer is the longest-standing member of the group. She joined in 1972, three years after Bonnie and Anita began performing together. Ruth now tours under the Pointer Sisters banner with two younger members, Issa Pointer, who first joined in 2002, and Sadako Pointer, who joined in 2009. In a 2019 interview, Anita signaled her approval for the group to continue without her. “You guys are doing some great shows and you’ve been all over the world without me,” she said. “I worked with Issa and Sadako so they got a good feel for what I was doing until I kind of had to retire due to health issues, but Ruthie can still sing so strongly and loves it.”
Pointer’s only daughter, Jada Pointer, who inspired the 1973 Pointer Sisters song “Jada,” died of cancer in 2003, leaving Anita to focus on raising her only grandchild, Roxie.
“It was a wonderful career. I didn’t plan any of this,” she told Goldmine. In 1969 she explained: “I intended to remain a secretary in a law firm, as I did when I heard Bonnie and June sing in the Northern California State Youth Choir, performing ‘Oh Happy Day’ with Edwin Hawkins and Dorothy Morrison , and I just loved it. So I quit my job and said I had to do that too.”