Bonnie Pointer, 69, was key force behind group
One of four Oakland sibling vocalists dies from cardiac arrest
Bonnie Pointer, one of the founding members of Oakland’s phenomenally successful Pointer Sisters vocal group, died Monday morning in Los Angeles. She was 69.
Her sister Anita, another founding member of the Grammywinning R&B/disco/ pop act, confirmed her death in a statement obtained by Variety and TMZ.
“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 Pointer said in the statement published by TMZ on Monday. “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 group also confirmed the death via social media.
“Sad News: Our sister Bonnie has passed away at the age of 69,” the group tweeted.
She died from cardiac arrest in Los Angeles, publicist Roger Neal said to the Associated Press.
Pointer will be best remembered for her role in forming the Pointer Sisters, although most of the group’s biggest hits — such as “Jump (For My Love),” “Fire,” “He’s so Shy,” “I’m so Excited,” “Slow Hand” and “Neutron Dance” — were released after she left to pursue a solo career in 1977.
Her best-known songs with the Pointer Sisters were “Fairytale” — which won the band its first Grammy for, believe it or not, best country vocal performance by a duo or group — and the chart-topping soul number “How Long (Betcha’ Got a Chick on the Side).” Anita Pointer sang lead on both of those numbers, with Bonnie joining with sisters Ruth and June on backing vocals.
After leaving the band, Bonnie Pointer signed with the Motown label and went on to become a successful solo artist. Her first of two self-titled albums for Motown — 1978’s “Bonnie Pointer,” which is sometimes referred to as the “Red Album” — delivered her smash cover of the Elgins’ “Heaven Must Have Sent You.”
She married Motown Records producer Jeffrey Bowen in 1978. The two divorced in 2014, after some 10 years of separation.
Born in Oakland on July 11, 1950 to the Reverend Elton and Sarah Pointer, Bonnie began singing at an early age with her sisters in the choir at her father’s church, the West Oakland Church of God.
“She had always told me, ‘Mother, I want something for myself. I want to be somebody in this world,'” her mother, Sarah, is quoted as saying on the Pointer Sisters’ website.
Variety quoted Ruth Pointer in her memoir, “I’m So Excited: My Life as a Pointer,” as describing her sister as “wild, fierce, and not to be denied,” and eager to sample all that life had to offer.
“She hung out in HaightAshbury with the hippies, protested at Berkeley, wrote poetry with Angela Davis, and dated Huey Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party,” Ruth Pointer wrote.
After graduating from Oakland Technical High School in 1968, Bonnie quickly formed a group with sisters June and Anita and managed to land some choice gigs — such as doing backing vocals for the likes of Boz Scaggs and Grace Slick — and even cut a few singles. Sister Ruth Pointer eventually joined the group and the Pointer Sisters released their self-titled debut in 1973.
The band was a hit from the start, as the debut went gold and the album’s first single, the Allen Toussaintpenned “Yes We Can Can,” reached as high as No. 11 on the charts.
There was no word Monday on funeral or memorial service plans. She is survived by her sisters Anita and Ruth Pointer. Sister June Pointer died in 2006.