Patricia Eva “Bonnie” Pointer (July 11, 1950-June 8, 2020) was an American singer, most notable for being a member of the Grammy Award–winning vocal group, The Pointer Sisters. Pointer scored several moderate solo hits after leaving the Pointers in 1977, including a disco cover of The Elgins‘ “Heaven Must Have Sent You” which became a U.S. top 20 pop hit on September 1, 1979.^[1]

Career[edit]

Bonnie and youngest sister June began singing together as teenagers and in 1969 the duo had co-founded The Pointers (otherwise known as The Pair). After Anita joined the duo that same year, they changed their name to The Pointer Sisters and recorded several singles for Atlantic Records between 1971 and 1972. In December 1972, they recruited oldest sister Ruth and released their debut album as The Pointer Sisters in 1973. Their self-titled debut yielded the hit “Yes We Can Can“. Between 1973 and 1977, the Pointers’ donned 1940s fashions and sang in a style reminiscent of The Andrews Sisters; they also melded the sounds of R&B, funk, rock and roll, gospel, country and soul.

Anita and Bonnie wrote the group’s crossover country hit, “Fairytale,” in 1974, which also became a Top 20 pop hit and won the group their first Grammy for Best Vocal by a Duo or Group, Country. Anita and Bonnie also were nominated for Best Country Song at the same ceremony. In 1977, Bonnie left the group to begin a solo career. The remaining sisters continued scoring hits from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s and had a major breakthrough with their 1983 album Break Out.

In 1978, Bonnie signed with Motown in the same year, Bonnie released “Heaven Must Have Sent You,” which reached No. 11 on Billboard Hot 100 chart. She released three solo albums, including two self-titled albums for Motown, before retiring from the studio.

Reviewing her 1978 self-titled LP, Robert Christgau wrote in Christgau’s Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981): “Thanks to (coproducer) Berry Gordy and the miracle of modern multitracking, Bonnie makes like the Marvelettes of your dreams for an entire side. People didn’t conceive vocals this intricate and funky back in Motown’s prime, much less overdub them single-larynxed, and the result is remakes that outdo the originals—by Brenda Holloway and the Elgins—and originals that stand alongside. The other side comprises originals of more diminutive stature cowritten by (coproducer) Jeffrey Bowen.”^[2]

Bonnie appeared on Soul Train on March 2, 1985 (Season 14, Episode 20). She still continued to perform, and reunited with her sisters on two separate occasions: when the group received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994, and during a Las Vegas performance in 1996 singing “Jump (for My Love)“. At the beginning of 2008, she embarked on a European tour, and has been working on her autobiography. Pointer performed at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City on Saturday, October 25, 2008. She also starred in Monte Hellman‘s 2010 romantic thriller Road to Nowhere.

Personal life[edit]

In 1978, Bonnie married Motown Records producer Jeffrey Bowen. As of July 2014, after 10 years of separation, Bonnie filed for divorce which was finalized in 2016.^[3]

Discography[edit]

Albums[edit]

• Bonnie Pointer Red Album (1978 Motown Records) US #96, US R&B #34, CAN #96

1. “When I’m Gone” (2:37)
2. “Free Me from My Freedom” (3:56)
3. “Heaven Must Have Sent You” (6:59)
4. “Ah Shoot” (4:55)
5. “More and More” (6:05)
6. “I Love to Sing to You” (4:04)
7. “I Wanna Make It (in Your World)” (3:20)
8. “My Everything” (4:20)

• Bonnie Pointer Purple Album (1979 Motown Records) US #63; US R&B #40, CAN #92

1. “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” (5:27)
2. “Jimmy Mack” (4:58)
3. “When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes” (4:46)
4. “Deep Inside My Soul” (4:37)
5. “Come See About Me” (5:17)
6. “Nowhere to Run (Nowhere to Hide)” (6:35)

• If the Price Is Right (1984 Private I Records)

1. “Premonition” (3:35)
2. “Johnny” (4:50)
3. “Come Softly to Me” (4:50)
4. “Under the Influence of Love” (4:03)
5. “Your Touch” (4:40)
6. “Tight Blue Jeans” (3:41)
7. “There’s Nobody Quite Like You” (3:51)
8. “If the Price Is Right” (4:09)

• Like a Picasso (2011 Platinum Trini Entertainment)

1. “Like a Picasso” (3:21)
2. “Hide” (3:09)
3. “Genius of My Heart” (3:41)
4. “You Ain’t Worth It” (2:50)
5. “Answered Prayer” (3:59)
6. “Don’t Expect a Rose” (3:39)
7. “Just Cried Tear” (4:17)
8. “Desire” (3:41)
9. “He Don’t Like Love” (3:04)
10. “Hey Harley” (3:52)
11. “Long Ago” (3:24)
12. “Strangest Day” (3:49)
13. “Ghost of I-95” (3:54)
14. “You Will” (3:23)

Singles[edit]

• “Free Me from My Freedom” / “Tie Me to a Tree” (1978) POP #58, R&B #10, US Dance #26, CAN #83
• “Heaven Must Have Sent You” (1979) POP #11, R&B #52, US Dance #8, CAN #32, AUS #31, NZ #21, BEL #23
• “Deep Inside My Soul” (1979)
• “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” (1979) POP #40, R&B #42, US Dance #4, CAN #43, AUS #52, NED #38, BEL #18
• “Your Touch” (1984) R&B #35, US Dance, #64, UK #79
• “Premonition” (1984) R&B #84
• “The Beast in Me” (1984) (from the film, Heavenly Bodies) R&B #87, US Dance #31
• “Strangest Day” (2010)

References[edit]