Bonnie Pointer, one of the founding members of The Pointer Sisters, has passed away. She was 69.
The passing of Pointer was confirmed by sister and bandmate, Anita, in a statement with TMZ. Her cause of death has been confirmed as a cardiac arrest.
“It is with great sadness that I have to announce to the fans of The Pointer Sisters that my sister, Bonnie died this morning,” Anita shared in a statement. “Our family is devastated, on behalf of my siblings and I and the entire Pointer family, we ask for your prayers at this time.”
The Oakland born musician first cut her teeth as a performer alongside her sisters Ruth, Anita and June as a singer at her father’s church. In the late ’60s, Bonnie and June began performing in night clubs as Pointers, a Pair. Sisters Anita and Ruth shortly joined the musical expedition, forming a quartet under The Pointer Sisters.
The group were signed to Blue Thumb Records in 1972, and released their debut self-titled record the following year. The album featured the quartets first top 20 single ‘Yes We Can Can’, penned by the late, influential New Orleans musician Allen Touissant.
Bonnie and the group won a Grammy award for best country vocal performance by a dup or group for their 1974 That’s a Plenty cut ‘Fairytale’. A song that went on to be covered by Elvis Presley.
Bonnie left the group to pursue a solo career in 1977, signing with Motown Records and releasing three solo albums — Bonnie Pointer Red Album, Bonnie Pointer Purple Album and If the Price Is Right. Pointer’s debut solo single, a disco-indebted rework of the Elgins’ “Heaven must Have Sent you” reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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Pointer’s final studio album came in the form of 2011’s Like a Picasso. In 2010, she played herself in the film Road to Nowhere.
Check out ‘Heaven Must Have Sent You’ by Bonnie Pointer:
