BONNIE POINTER,
1950-2020

Bonnie Pointer, a founding member of the Pointer Sisters who co-wrote a country song that led to their first Grammy Award, died Monday. She was 69.

Anita Pointer announced her death of her sister without listing a cause.

Bonnie and June, who died in 2006, started performing as a duo in the late 1960s in Oakland before adding Anita and signing with Atlantic Records. Having added oldest sister Ruth to the group, they moved to Blue Thumb and scored their first hit with “Yes We Can Can” in 1973.

Initially, the quartet performed funk, blues, jazz and R&B, donning fashions from the 1940s to create a unique sartorial style. On their second album, 1974’s That’s a Plenty, Bonnie and Anita wrote a country-flavored song, “Fairytale,” that led to the group becoming the first African-American group to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. The Pointer Sisters won a Grammy for their recording of the song.

Bonnie left the group in 1977, signing with Motown where she had minor hits with “Free Me From My Freedom,” “Your Touch”. And covers of “Heaven Must Have Sent You” and “I Can’t Help Myself(Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch).”