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The Pointer Sisters are an American female vocal group from Oakland, California, who achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s, selling around 40 million records over the course of their career. Their repertoire spans many genres. The Pointer Sisters have won three Grammy Awards and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994. The group had 13 US top 20 hits between 1973 and 1987.

The group had its origins when sisters June and Bonnie Pointer began performing in clubs in 1969 as "Pointers Au Pair". The line-up grew to a trio when sister Anita joined them. Their record deal with Atlantic Records produced several unsuccessful singles. The trio grew to a quartet when sister Ruth joined in December 1972. They then signed with Blue Thumb Records, recorded their debut album and, with their new label, began seeing more success, winning a Grammy Award in 1975 for Best Country Vocal Performance for "Fairytale" (1974). Bonnie left the group in 1977 to commence a solo career with modest success.

After signing with Richard Perry's independent label Planet Records, in 1978, the group achieved its greatest commercial success in the 1980s as a trio consisting of June, Ruth, and Anita. With Perry emphasizing electronic pop and dance stylings, they won two more Grammys in 1984 for the top 10 hits "Automatic" and "Jump (For My Love)". The group's other U.S. top 10 hits are "Fire" (1979), "He's So Shy" (1980), "Slow Hand" (1981), the remixed version of "I'm So Excited" (1984), and "Neutron Dance" (1985).

June, the youngest sister, suffered from drug addiction for several years, leaving the group in April 2004 prior to her death from cancer in April 2006, at the age of 52. She was replaced by Ruth's daughter Issa Pointer. This trio had a No. 2 hit in Belgium in 2005, covering "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" with Belgian singer Natalia.

Between 2009 and 2015, the group consisted of Anita, Ruth, Issa, and Ruth's granddaughter Sadako Pointer. While all four women remained in the group, they most often performed as a trio rotating the lineup as needed. In 2015, Anita was forced to retire due to ill health, leaving Ruth the sole member of the original sibling lineup.

In December 2016, Billboard magazine ranked them as the 80th most successful dance artists of all time. In December 2017, Billboard ranked them as the 93rd most successful Hot 100 Artist of all time and as the 32nd most successful Hot 100 Women Artist of all time.

History

Early days

As children in West Oakland, the Pointer sisters and brothers were encouraged to listen to and sing gospel music by their parents Reverend Elton and Sarah Pointer, both natives of Arkansas. However, they were told rock and roll and the blues were "the devil's music", and it was only when they were away from their watchful parents that they could sing these styles. They regularly sang at a local Church of God in Christ congregation in West Oakland, but as the sisters grew older their love of other styles of music began to grow.

The sisters were first cousins of NBA basketball player and head coach Paul Silas, and sisters of Aaron Pointer. Aaron was one of very few major league baseball players who became less famous than his own sisters; he later officiated in the National Football League for 17 seasons. The sisters graduated from Oakland Technical High School: Ruth in 1963, Anita in 1965, and Bonnie in 1968. After leaving school, oldest sister Ruth was already married with two children Faun (born 1965) and Malik (born 1966), Anita, the second-oldest sister, also was married with a child Jada. Bonnie, the third oldest sister, and June, the youngest, sought a show business career and they formed a duo, 'Pointers Au Pair'. Later, Anita quit her job to join the group. They began touring and performing and provided backing vocals for artists such as Grace Slick, Sylvester, Boz Scaggs, Taj Mahal, Elvin Bishop and Betty Davis.

It was while supporting Bishop at a nightclub appearance in 1971 that the sisters were signed to a recording contract with Atlantic Records. The resulting singles that came from their Atlantic tenure failed to become hits, but the sisters were enjoying their fledgling recording career. One recording has become a Northern Soul classic: "Send Him Back" (Atlantic 45 2893). Concentrated at Wigan Casino around 1973–1974, Northern soul was an underground music scene comprising American 45 rpm records released at the same time as Tamla Motown and imported into the United Kingdom. "Send Him Back" remains a favorite with the worldwide Northern soul audience. Ruth joined the group in December 1972. The quartet signed with Blue Thumb Records and began to record their first album.