The year 2022 came to an end with the death of a legend.
Anita Pointer, one of the four sisters who achieved fame as The Pointer Sisters, passed away on Saturday at the age of 74, according to her publicist, NPR reported.
The Grammy winner passed suddenly while she was visiting family, according to a statement from publicist Roger Neal. The cause of death wasn’t made known right away.
“While we are deeply saddened by the loss of Anita, we are comforted in knowing she is now with her daughter Jada and her sisters June & Bonnie and at peace. She was the one that kept all of us close and together for so long,” her sister Ruth, bothers Aaron and Fritz and granddaughter Roxie McKain Pointer said in a statement in the publication.
Daughters of a minister, Anita, Ruth, Bonnie, and June Pointer grew up singing in their father’s Oakland, California, church.
The group’s breakthrough song, “Yes We Can Can,” appeared on their self-titled debut album from 1973. The singers received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994. They are known for hit songs like “I’m So Excited,” “Slow Hand,” “Neutron Dance,” and “Jump (For My Love).
“Break Out,” an album released in 1983, went triple platinum and won two American Music Awards. Between 1973 and 1985, the trio had 13 U.S. top 20 hit songs and won three Grammy Awards, according to Neal.
June Pointer died from cancer at 52 in 2006.
Bonnie Pointer’s death was from cardiac arrest at the age of 69 in 2020.
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