As Variety reports today, “It is with great sadness that I have to announce to the fans of the Pointer Sisters that my sister Bonnie died this morning,” said Anita Pointer of her sister, Patricia, aka Bonnie. “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 one of the founding members of the group and left in the mid-1970s to pursue a solo career.
“Bonnie was my best friend and we talked every day,” Anita said in a statement. “We never had a fight in our life. I already miss her and I will see her again one day.”
The family’s youngest sister, June, died in 2006. A few months ago, Bonnie and Anita released a tribute song for June, “Feels Like June.” A spokesperson said it was Bonnie’s final recording.
The sisters began singing in the West Oakland Church of God in Oakland, Calif., their father’s church, more than 50 years ago.
After the group started as a trio with Bonnie, June and Anita in 1969, Bill Graham signed the Pointer Sisters to a management contract and they went on tour with Elvin Bishop. In 1971, Jerry Wexler caught them with Bishop at the Whisky in Los Angeles and signed them to Atlantic Records. At that point, they were nostalgic in their appeal, singing music of the ’30s and ’40s, a look they stuck with for several years even as their music became more modern. Their clothes came from thrift stores; Bonnie Pointer said that she also picked some up from their church, where some of the matrons had turned in their old dresses as representing a former, sinful life.
