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The Pointer Sisters
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Miami Vice Performers
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Current Members
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Ruth Pointer (born March 19, 1946)
Sadako Pointer (born March 25, 1984) Issa Pointer (born January 22, 1978) |
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Active
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1969-present
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The Pointer Sisters are an American Pop/R&B group whose songs "I'm So Excited" and "Jump (For My Love)" appeared in the series Miami Vice.
Career[]
The Pointer Sisters (Ruth, Anita (1948-2022), June (1953-2006), and Bonnie (1950-2020)) were all born in Oakland, California. Raised to sing gospel music, June & Bonnie began performing as a duo in 1969, then Ruth & Anita joined by 1972 and the group recorded their self-titled debut album in 1973, their first single, "Yes We Can Can", reached the Top 20. Their second album, That's A Plenty, featured a country song, "Fairytale", which also reached the Top 20 and got the sisters invited to the Grand Ole Opry, a first for an African-American female group, then the song won them a Grammy for Best Country Performance, and was covered by Elvis Presley before his death. The group released two more albums, then in 1976 the group appeared in the comedy movie Car Wash (with Jack Kehoe, Pepe Serna and Antonio Fargas), after that Bonnie left the group to pursue a solo career and June left for a short period, then came back in time for their 1978 album Energy, where their sound became more slow soul, and they reached the Billboard Top 10 with a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Fire". In 1980 another album, "Special Things", brought another Top 10 single, "He's So Shy", and their 1981 album "Black and White" contained yet another Top 10, "Slowhand" (later covered by country legend Conway Twitty). Their 1982 album American Music contained a track that would be a big hit for the Sisters later, "I'm So Excited". The appropriately named 1983 album Breakout lived up to that name, as that was the Sisters' "breakout" album, containing four Top 10 singles: "Jump (For My Love)" (#1), "Automatic", "Neutron Dance", and "I'm So Excited" (remixed from its' earlier appearance), and the group won two Grammys. After this success, the Sisters' next two albums did reach the lofty heights of Breakout and the group began to perform, but at a slower pace. The sisters became mothers and grandmothers, and when June became ill in 2004, Ruth's daughter Issa took her place. In 2006 June died of lung cancer, Bonnie died in 2020, and the remaining sisters (after a period of estrangment between Bonnie and her two surviving sisters) reunited and continue to perform, In 2009, Anita rejoined the trio along with Ruth, Issa, and Sadako Pointer, but with Anita's death in 2022 from cancer, Ruth is the only surviving original Pointer sister.