Pointer Sisters singer dies of cancer

LOS ANGELES - June Pointer, youngest of the four Pointer Sisters who went from teenage gospel singers to the top of the pop charts with such hits as "Fire," "Slow Hand" and "I'm So Excited," has died of cancer at age 52.

Two sisters, Ruth and Anita, and two brothers, Aaron and Fritz, were at her side at the UCLA Medical Centre in Santa Monica when she died, a family spokesman said.

Her third sister, Bonnie, was unable to be present, the spokesman added. The type of cancer was not disclosed.

The sisters learnt to sing in the choir of a church in West Oakland, California, where their parents were ministers. They began as a quartet in the 1970s and become a trio when their sister Bonnie left to pursue a solo career.

"The Pointer Sisters," their first album, was issued in 1973 with what turned out to be their first hit, "Yes We Can Can," a cover of an Allen Toussaint song. Two years later they topped the R&B charts with "How Long (Betcha' Got A Chick on the Side)."

Their second album, "That's A Plenty" in 1974, included a country and western tune "Fairytale," which led to their winning the first of their three Grammys, this one for best country vocal performance by a group.

Thanks to that song, they became the first black female group to sing at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry. "Fairytale" was later covered by Elvis Presley.

Bonnie left the group in the late 1970s to sign with Motown and follow a solo career, and the sisters became a trio making several successful albums, most notably 1984's "Break Out," which won two Grammy awards and contained the hit "Neutron Dance," featured in the film "Beverly Hills Cop."

It was not the first time that a Pointer Sisters song made the movies - in 1976 they appeared with Richard Pryor in the movie "Car Wash," which had their singing "You Gotta Believe" on the soundtrack.

The sisters' 1979 cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Fire" also was a major hit as the group moved in a more contemporary direction as a trio, hitting the singles charts with such tunes as "He's So Shy" (1980), "Slow Hand" (1981) and "I'm So Excited" (1982).

In 2004, June Pointer, who made two albums as a solo artist, was charged with cocaine possession and placed in a rehabilitation programme.

- REUTERS/VNU