June Pointer

June Antoinette Pointer was born on November 30, 1953, in Oakland, California, the youngest of six children raised by Reverend Elton and Sarah Pointer. She made her Broadway debut in 1995 in Ain't Misbehavin'. She is best known as the youngest founding member of the Pointer Sisters.

Pointer's professional singing career began in 1969 when she and her sister Bonnie formed a duo called Pointers, A Pair, performing at clubs before sister Anita left her secretarial job to join them, expanding the group to a trio and prompting the name change to the Pointer Sisters. The trio signed with Atlantic Records and released several singles without significant chart success. In 1972, sister Ruth joined the group, completing the quartet that would sign with Blue Thumb Records and record their debut album.

The Pointer Sisters released their self-titled debut album in 1973, generating hits including "Yes We Can Can" and "Wang Dang Doodle," followed by subsequent charting singles such as "Fairytale," "How Long (Betcha Got a Chick on the Side)," and "You Gotta Believe." In November 1975, Pointer left the group after being advised to retire due to physical and mental exhaustion. When sister Bonnie departed in 1977 to pursue a solo career, Pointer chose not to return, as Bonnie's absence changed the group's composition.

Following her return to the Pointer Sisters, the group entered its most commercially successful period. Beginning in early 1979 with a Top 10 cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Fire," the group produced a sustained run of hits that included "Happiness," "He's So Shy" (1980), "Slow Hand" (1981), "American Music," "Should I Do It," and "I'm So Excited." Pointer sang lead vocals on several of these, including "Happiness," "He's So Shy," "Should I Do It," and "Jump (For My Love)." The group's 1983 album Break Out became their biggest commercial success, yielding four Top 10 hits: "Automatic," "Jump (For My Love)," a re-release of "I'm So Excited," and "Neutron Dance." Later releases produced additional charting singles including "Dare Me," "Freedom," and "Goldmine," with Pointer singing lead on "Baby Come and Get It" and "Dare Me."

While remaining with the Pointer Sisters, Pointer also pursued solo work. Her debut solo album Baby Sister was released in 1983 on Planet Records, producing the R&B single "Ready for Some Action," which reached number 28 on the US R&B chart. That same year she contributed the song "Little Boy Sweet" to the film National Lampoon's Vacation. In December 1986, she appeared alongside Bruce Willis in a music video for a cover of the Staples Singers' "Respect Yourself," a recording that reached number 5 on the Hot 100. She also recorded a duet with Dionne Warwick, "Heartbreak of Love," for Warwick's 1987 album Reservations for Two, which later appeared on Warwick's 1989 single "Take Good Care of You and Me." Pointer posed for Playboy in 1985. Her second solo album, June Pointer, was released in 1989 on Columbia Records, featuring the R&B charting single "Tight on Time (Fit U In)," which reached number 70 on the US R&B chart. In September 1994, the Pointer Sisters received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Pointer was married to William Oliver Whitmore II from 1978 until 1991 and had no children. She struggled with cocaine addiction throughout much of her career and was ousted from the Pointer Sisters in 2004. On April 22, 2004, she was charged with felony cocaine possession and misdemeanor possession of a smoking device and was ordered to a rehabilitation facility.

On February 27, 2006, Pointer suffered a stroke, and while hospitalized she was diagnosed with end-stage gastric cancer that had spread to her pancreas, bones, liver, and lungs. She died on April 11, 2006, at UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 52, with siblings Ruth, Anita, Aaron, and Fritz present. Her funeral was held at the Church of the Hills in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles, and her ashes were interred at Mt. Tamalpais Cemetery in San Rafael, California.