The Pointer Sisters

The Pointer Sisters are an American female vocal group from Oakland, California, who achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. They have had a repertoire with many genres and have sold around 40 million records throughout their career. The Pointer Sisters have won three Grammy Awards and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994. The group had 13 US top 20 hits between 1973 and 1987.

The group had its origins when sisters June and Bonnie Pointer began performing in clubs in 1969 as "Pointers Au Pair". The line-up grew to a trio when sister Anita joined them. Their record deal with Atlantic Records produced several unsuccessful singles. The trio grew to a quartet when sister Ruth joined in December 1972. They then signed with Blue Thumb Records, recorded their debut album and, with their new label, began seeing more success, winning a Grammy Award in 1975 for Best Country Vocal Performance for "Fairytale" (1974). Bonnie left the group in 1977 to commence a solo career with modest success.

After signing with Richard Perry's independent label Planet Records, in 1978, the group achieved its greatest commercial success in the 1980s as a trio consisting of June, Ruth, and Anita. With Perry emphasizing electronic pop and dance stylings, they won two more Grammys in 1984 for the top 10 hits "Automatic" and "Jump (For My Love)". The group's other U.S. top 10 hits are "Fire" (1979), "He's So Shy" (1980), "Slow Hand" (1981), the remixed version of "I'm So Excited" (1984), and "Neutron Dance" (1985).

June, the youngest sister, suffered from drug addiction for several years, leaving the group in April 2004 prior to her death from cancer in April 2006, at the age of 52. She was replaced by Ruth's daughter Issa Pointer. This trio had a No. 2 hit in Belgium in 2005, covering "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" with Belgian singer Natalia.

Between 2009 and 2015, the group consisted of Anita, Ruth, Issa, and Ruth's granddaughter Sadako Pointer. While all four women remained in the group, they most often performed as a trio rotating the lineup as needed. In 2015, Anita was forced to retire due to ill health, leaving Ruth the sole member of the original sibling lineup.

In December 2016, Billboard magazine ranked them as the 80th most successful dance artists of all time. In December 2017, Billboard ranked them as the 93rd most successful Hot 100 Artist of all time and as the 32nd most successful Hot 100 Women Artist of all time.

History

Early days

As children in West Oakland, the Pointer sisters and brothers were encouraged to listen to and sing gospel music by their parents Reverend Elton and Sarah Pointer, both natives of Arkansas. However, they were told rock and roll and the blues were "the devil's music", and it was only when they were away from their watchful parents that they could sing these styles. They regularly sang at a local Church of God in Christ congregation in West Oakland, but as the sisters grew older their love of other styles of music began to grow.

The sisters were first cousins of NBA basketball player and head coach Paul Silas, and sisters of Aaron Pointer. Aaron was one of very few major league baseball players who became less famous than his own sisters; he later officiated in the National Football League for 17 seasons. The sisters graduated from Oakland Technical High School: Ruth in 1963, Anita in 1965, and Bonnie in 1968. After leaving school, oldest sister Ruth was already married with two children Faun (born 1965) and Malik (born 1966), Anita, the second-oldest sister, also was married with a child Jada. Bonnie, the third oldest sister, and June, the youngest, sought a show business career and they formed a duo, 'Pointers Au Pair'. Later, Anita quit her job to join the group. They began touring and performing and provided backing vocals for artists such as Grace Slick, Sylvester, Boz Scaggs, Taj Mahal, Elvin Bishop and Betty Davis.

In 1976, they were asked to record "Pinball Number Count" for Sesame Street, which was a series of educational cartoons teaching children how to count. It made its debut in 1977 and was a feature on the show for many years. They made their television debut performance at the Troubadour nightclub in Los Angeles on The Helen Reddy Show. In 1974, they joined Reddy on the track "Showbiz" which appeared on her Free and Easy album.

Initial success

The group's first album The Pointer Sisters, featuring the backing of Bay Area stalwarts the Hoodoo Rhythm Devils, was released in 1973 and received strong reviews, with the group being lauded for their versatility and originality. Its first single "Yes We Can Can" – an Allen Toussaint-penned song, which had been a minor R&B hit for Lee Dorsey in 1970 - afforded the Pointer Sisters the first chart hit reaching No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, while both "Yes We Can Can" and the follow-up single: the Willie Dixon cover "Wang Dang Doodle" were major R&B hits

The June/Bonnie appearance at San Jose Pride was promoted as a "Pointer Sisters" gig, with pictures of June performing with Anita and Ruth utilized in its promotion, causing Anita and Ruth to sue the promoter and other affiliates of the San Jose Pride gig. Neither Bonnie nor June was named in the suit. She also said, "Anita and I had talked for some time about having Issa and [Anita's] daughter Jada alternate in the third spot in the lineup...Issa was chosen [to go] first because she had experience singing solo at a lot of New England-area functions."

The group's next recording was a remake of the Eurythmics' "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" recorded with Natalia: this track spent sixteen weeks in the Top 20 of Belgium's Flemish chart from October 2005 with a peak of No. 2. In 2008, Anita and Ruth recorded the last Pointer Sisters album to date The Pointer Sisters Favorites consisting of remakes of ten of the group's biggest hits: recorded in response to the group's failure to receive royalties from the inclusion of any Pointer Sisters' hits on multi-artist hits compilations, "...Favorites" was sold exclusively at the group's live gigs and at the website ThePointerSisters.com, but was added to iTunes in 2013. Most recently in 2007, Tommy Boy recording artist Ultra Naté has released a dance-pop cover of "Automatic" that reached No. 1 at the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts. The same year, How Long (Betcha' Got a Chick on the Side) was faithfully covered by Queen Latifah on her 2007 album "Travelin' Light".

On June 7, 2006, Anita guest-starred on Celebrity Duets singing with Olympic gymnast Carly Patterson on "I'm So Excited": on the following night's results show the duo's encore was "Jump (For My Love)".

On August 4, 2009, Ruth, Anita and Bonnie stopped by The Kibitz Room at Canter's in Los Angeles and jammed with the band and Ruth's son Malik. They sang "Fire", "Yes We Can Can", and "Going Down Slowly". On November 4, 2009, the Pointer Sisters played "I'm So Excited" and "Neutron Dance" on CBS morning show The Early Show with Ruth's granddaughter, Sadako Johnson. Issa is currently pursuing a solo career.

While promoting an October 28, 2010, Detroit gig by the Pointer Sisters –then comprising Anita and Ruth and Sadako Pointer Johnson — Ruth Pointer, asked "Do you [and Anita] plan on recording an album with Sadako?", replied: "Hmm...not really. We talk about it from time to time, but the business has changed so much. It's not like the old days when you just have a record deal and go in the studio and record with a producer and then start promoting." In the same interview Ruth commented on the Pointer Sisters' profile having dropped in recent years: "We've performed a lot in Europe and Asia and Australia, and it's just that we haven't been very visible publicly in the [US]. We still do a lot of corporate parties and private parties because I mean, let's face it, those are the people that are in our own age group and know our songs." Ruth, Sadako Johnson and Issa were the personnel for a February 11, 2012 Pointer Sisters concert in Metairie, Louisiana. At the July 6, 2012 Essence Fest show in New Orleans, Anita had rejoined the group, the lineup for that concert being Ruth, Anita and Sadako Johnson.

In an August 2012 interview Ruth stated: "Anita has had some health issues recently so we try to give her a break when she needs it. When that happens we bring my daughter [Issa] in to fill in for her."

The Pointer Sisters were scheduled to play six Australian dates in May and June 2016 with the lineup of Ruth, Issa and Sadako Johnson. Media reports indicated that Anita's health issues necessitated her retiring from the group. In a February 25, 2016 interview with News.com.au, Ruth said of the Pointer Sisters recent live performance history: "I'm almost inclined to call [the group's live engagements] pop-up engagements, not tours. We don't do the tours like we used to do back in the day. We'll leave that to the young folks, out on the road in buses for months at a time....We still have a good time, we do a lot of corporate dates, a lot of casinos, special events, fundraisers, that's our audience. We're so glad [the Pointer Sisters's songs are] still relevant and people still want to hear them being sung and we love singing them."

In 2003, sister Anita lost her only child Jada to cancer. Jada was the subject of the 1973 song "Jada".

On April 11, 2006, June, who suffered from drug addiction, died of cancer at the age of 52. According to a family statement, she was surrounded by Ruth and Anita as well as brothers Aaron and Fritz. On May 4, 2006, Bonnie appeared on Entertainment Tonight saying the other sisters had not fulfilled June's burial wishes, instead having her cremated because it was cheaper. Bonnie also stated the sisters had not let her ride in the family car at the funeral. Anita and Ruth responded that Bonnie had demanded to rejoin the group and was upset that she had been rejected, and that June had left no instructions for her burial. The sisters seemed estranged from Bonnie until she joined Anita on the Idol Radio Show in 2007.

Bonnie was arrested for allegedly possessing crack cocaine on November 18, 2011, in South Los Angeles, after the car she was riding in was pulled over for a mechanical malfunction. She filed for divorce from Motown Records producer, Jeffrey Bowen, on July 1, 2014. On June 8, 2020, she died at her home in Los Angeles at the age of 69.

Anita died from cancer on December 31, 2022.

Members

Current members

Ruth Pointer (1972–present)
Issa Pointer (2002–2009, 2011–present)
Sadako Pointer (2009–present)

Former members

Anita Pointer (1969–2015; died 2022)
Bonnie Pointer (1969–1977, one-off in 2009; died 2020)
June Pointer (1969–1977, 1978–2002; died 2006)

Timeline

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Discography

;Studio albums

The Pointer Sisters (1973)
That's a Plenty (1974)
Steppin (1975)
Having a Party (1977)
Energy (1978)
Priority (1979)
Special Things (1980)
Black & White (1981)
So Excited! (1982)
Break Out (1983)
Contact (1985)
Hot Together (1986)
Serious Slammin (1988)
Right Rhythm (1990)
Only Sisters Can Do That (1993)

Awards

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. The Pointer Sisters have received three awards from ten nominations.

{| class="wikitable"

!Year

!Nominated work

!Award

!Result

|| || "Fairytale" || Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group ||

|rowspan="2"| || "How Long (Betcha' Got a Chick on the Side)" || Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus ||

| "Live Your Life Before You Die" || Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group ||

|| || "He's So Shy" || Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal ||

|rowspan="2"| || "Slow Hand" || Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal ||

| Black & White || Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal ||

|rowspan="2"| || "Jump (For My Love)" || Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal ||

| "Automatic" || Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices ||

|| || Contact || Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal ||

| || So Excited || Best Music Video, Short Form ||

American Music Awards

The American Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony created by Dick Clark in 1973. The Pointer Sisters have received three awards from four nominations.