A 2nd Pointer Sister Has Died

Bonnie Pointer was 69
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 9, 2020 12:09 AM CDT
A 2nd Pointer Sister Has Died
In this June 16, 2012 file photo, Bonnie Pointer attends the 100th Anniversary of The Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.   (Photo by Katy Winn/Invision/AP, File)

A second Pointer Sister has died. Bonnie Pointer passed away in her Los Angeles home Monday morning at age 69 of 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," sister Anita tells TMZ. "Our family is devastated, on behalf of my siblings and I and the entire Pointer family, we ask for your prayers at this time. Bonnie was my best friend and we talked every day, we never had a fight in our life, I already miss her and I will see her again one day." Bonnie and her younger sister June started the Pointer Sisters as a duo in 1969, USA Today reports. Their older sisters Ruth and Anita later joined them to form a quartet; the sisters had grown up together singing in church in Oakland, Calif., and it was Bonnie's idea to turn professional.

"The Pointer Sisters would never have happened had it not been for Bonnie," Anita's statement continues. The hits they recorded in the 1970s included "Yes We Can Can," "Wang Dang Doodle," "How Long (Betcha' Got a Chick on the Side)," and "Fairytale," which made the group the first (and so far only) black group to win a country music Grammy and was later covered by Elvis Presley. Bonnie set out on her own in 1977, pursuing a solo career during which she recorded a disco cover of "Heaven Must Have Sent You," while the Pointer Sisters carried on as a group without her. Sister June died in 2006 from cancer, and Bonnie's last recorded song was a duet with sister Anita dedicated to her: "Feels Like June." It was released in February of this year, Yahoo Entertainment reports. She is survived by sisters Ruth and Anita as well as two brothers. (More obituary stories.)

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