Bonnie Pointer, a Grammy-winning singer and songwriter who was a founding member of vocal group the Pointer Sisters, has died at the age of 69.…
Bonnie Pointer, a Grammy-winning singer and songwriter who was a founding member of vocal group the Pointer Sisters, has died at the age of 69. Her death was announced in a statement that included a remembrance from her older sister, Anita Pointer. “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.” No cause was given.
The Pointer Sisters evolved from The Pointers – A Pair, a San Francisco-based group Bonnie formed in 1969 with her younger sister, June. The duo performed R&B covers in Oakland clubs and was part of the Northern California State Youth Choir. Anita Pointer saw her sisters singing with the choir at the Fillmore West and immediately quit her legal secretary job to sing with them.
The Pointers grew up singing in the choir at their father’s Oakland church, and had clandestine sessions listening to secular radio when their parents weren’t home: Nina Simone, Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, Etta James. Later, the siblings worked tirelessly on their music — rehearsing, writing and arranging vocals, and penning original songs — and soaking up the revolutionary politics, culture and music galvanizing late-’60s San Francisco.
As a trio, they channeled their eclectic musical tastes and stage experience into gigs singing backup for Grace Slick, Sylvester, Boz Scaggs and Elvin Bishop. Bonnie — an expressive, buoyant vocalist who effortlessly embraced elements of soul, pop and jazz — especially gravitated toward such musical versatility. “I’m the kind of person who likes to do adventurous, new things – it’s got to be a challenge for me to go forward, because I don’t like to be stuck into just one thing,” she told Blues & Soul in 1979.
That attitude also summarized The Pointer Sisters’ early work, which resisted categorization.
