Anita Pointer, who has died from cancer aged 74, was a member of the Pointer Sisters from their formation in 1969 until illness forced her to step down in 2015. They achieved immediate success with their debut album, The Pointer Sisters, in 1973, which reached No 13 on the US chart, and their first single, the Allen Toussaint composition Yes We Can Can, went to No 11.
They enjoyed further success with How Long (Betcha Got a Chick on the Side), a Top 20 hit, from the Steppin’ album (1975), and their appearance in the 1976 movie Car Wash propelled their single You Gotta Believe into the R&B Top 20. But it was not until the group signed to the producer Richard Perry’s Planet Records that they were launched into the pop stratosphere. The album Energy (1978) entered the US Top 20 and gave them a major hit with a version of Bruce Springsteen’s Fire.
