Anita Pointer, Founding Member Of The Pointer Sisters, Dies At 74

• Anita Pointer died on December 31
• She passed away at the age of 74, surrounded by family
• Pointer was the last surviving original member of the award-winning Pointer Sisters trio

On December 31, Anita Pointer died. She was 74 years old when she passed away surrounded by family, according to her spokesman Roger Neal. Her rep also told TMZ her death followed a “somewhat lengthy and heroic battle with cancer.”

Pointer was a founding member of the legendary girl group the Pointer Sisters, comprised of original members Anita, Bonnie, and June Pointer. Sadly, June Pointer died in 2006 and Bonnie Pointer died in 2020; Anita had been the last surviving original member of the band, which mastered numerous diverge genres throughout the 1970s and ’80s.

The sad passing of Anita Pointer

Anita, Bonnie, and June made up the first Pointer Sisters team, though their legacy is continued now through Ruth, Issa, and Sadako. “While we are deeply saddened by the loss of Anita,” reads a statement from the family, “we are comforted in knowing she is now with her daughter, Jada, and her sisters June and Bonnie, and at peace.” These sentiments come from Anita’s siblings Ruth, Aaron, and Fritz, along with her granddaughter Roxie McKain Pointer.

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“She was the one that kept all of us close and together for so long,” the statement continues. “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.”

The remarkable life of a musical history-maker

Born on January 23, 1948, Anita Pointer was the fourth of six children. The family lived in California but traveled yearly to their parents’ native Arkansas; while there, attending high school, Anita played sax in the school band. Then, when her younger sisters Bonnie and June started a band, she joined, completing the Pointer Sisters. The trio would release dance, country, rock, blues, pop, and jazz songs alike. Fame hit fast and hard thanks to 1978’s “Fire,” then “He’s So Shy,” “Slow Hand,” and “I’m So Excited” enjoyed additional popularity. The Pointer Sisters were awarded with three Grammy Awards and, by 1994, were celebrated with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In ’98, Anita alone was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.

Sadly, Anita had a history of health battles. In fact, Anita retired from the Pointer Sisters in 2015 because of her health, though only long after her daughter helped inspire one of the group’s most celebrated songs, “Jada.” Sadly, Anita is predeceased by her daughter who died in 2003 at the age of just 37.

Rest in peace, the last of a trio of legends.

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