Post by Journey2herpast on Apr 13, 2006 7:00:18 GMT -5
(Born: November 30, 1953) The youngest of the four Pointer Sisters is June. She and her sister Bonnie originally sang as a duo, calling themselves Pointers-A Pair (see group bio).
June, known by some fans as the energetic rock & roller, has stepped out on her own many times, even posing in Playboy magazine. Her solo recording career debuted with the release of 1983's Baby Sister on Planet Records. The single "Ready for Some Action" reached the Top 30 on the R&B charts. Another song from the album "I'm Ready for Love," can be found on The Very Best of The Pointer Sisters, released on RCA in 1996.
In 1986, the Pointers, with June on lead vocal, joined Bruce Willis for the lively "Respect Yourself." The single, from Willis' debut, The Return of Bruno, reached the Top Five on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Chart, and June's solo performance in the video helped it become one of MTV's most popular clips at the time. A year later, June recorded a duet with Dionne Warwick, "Heartbreak of Love," for Dionne's 1987 album, Reservations for Two.
June's second solo release was 1989's June Pointer (Columbia Records). The album was executive produced by Carol Bayer Sager and features a potpourri of other producers, including Narada Michael Walden, Kashif, David Foster and Rhett Lawrence. Released to enthusiastic reviews from fans and critics alike, the album spawned the R&B chart single, "Tight On Time (I'll Fit U In)."
June Pointer, the youngest of the singing Pointer Sisters known for the 1970s and 1980s hits "I'm So Excited," "Fire," and "Slow Hand," died tuesday, April 11, 2006 of cancer at Santa Monica University of California, Los Angeles, Medical Center, she was 52. She had been hospitalized since late February and the type of cancer wasn't disclosed.
She died "in the arms of her sisters, Ruth and Anita and her brothers, Aaron and Fritz, by her side," the family statement read. "Although her sister, Bonnie, was unable to be present, she was with her in spirit."
The Pointer Sisters began as a quartet in the early 1970s with sisters Ruth, Anita, Bonnie and June. The group became a trio when Bonnie embarked on a solo career.
The group's hits also included "He's So Shy," "Automatic" and "Jump (For My Love)."
The sisters, along with their two older brothers, grew up singing in the choir of an Oakland church where their parents were ministers.
Bonnie and June formed a singing duo and began performing in clubs around the San Francisco Bay area. Anita and Ruth later joined the group and together, they sang backup for Taj Mahal, Boz Scaggs and Elvin Bishop, among others.
Their first, self-titled album, "The Pointer Sisters," debuted in 1973 and the song "Yes We Can Can" became their first hit. They followed up with the album "That's A Plenty," which featured an eclectic mix of musical styles ranging from jazz to country and pop. They won the first of their three Grammy awards in 1974 for best country vocal performance by a group for the song "Fairytale."
Bonnie left the group in 1977, and the sisters recorded several more albums, scoring several hit songs that became identified as the soundtrack of the 1980s.
The successful 1984 album "Break Out" earned two Grammy awards for the songs "Automatic" and "Jump (For My Love)." The album's other hit song, "Neutron Dance," was prominently featured in the movie "Beverly Hills Cop."
June recorded two solo albums, and later left the trio.
Anita and Ruth still perform under the group's name. Ruth's daughter, Issa Pointer, is the trio's newest member.