Anita Marie Pointer (born January 23, 1948) is an American R&B/Soul singer–songwriter, best known as a founding member of the Grammy Award–winning vocal group The Pointer Sisters. 　　Anita was born in Oakland, California, United States. Though she was born in California, Pointer's parents were natives of Arkansas. As a result, her family traveled by car almost yearly from California to Arkansas to visit Pointer’s grandparents who lived in Prescott. During that time, her mother allowed her to stay with her grandparents in order to attend fifth grade at McRae Elementary, seventh grade at McRae Jr. High, and tenth grade at McRae High School. While in Prescott, she played alto sax as a member of the McRae High School Band. In 1969, she quit her job as a secretary to join her younger sisters Bonnie and June to form The Pointer Sisters. 　　She and her sisters found fame in 1973, when the Anita-led "Yes We Can Can" reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1974, Anita's writing talents helped the group make music history when "Fairytale," became a hit on the country music charts and enabled The Pointer Sisters to become the first black female group to ever perform at the Grand Ole Opry. "Fairytale" won the group its first Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group, and a Grammy Nomination for the Best Country Song of the year in 1975. 　　In the late 70's and early 80's, The Pointer Sisters rose to even higher levels of success with "Fire" (1978), "He's So Shy" (1980), "Slow Hand" (1981) and "I'm So Excited" (1982). In 1983, the trio's album Break Out reached multi-platinum status and won the group two more Grammy Awards. In 1986, Anita found chart success with country superstar Earl Thomas Conley on the song "Too Many Times", which reached No. 2 on the country chart and in 1987, she released her first solo album Love For What It Is. Her album's first single, "Overnight Success", reached No. 41 on the Billboard R&B chart. A second single from the album, "More Than A Memory," also charted. In 1994, Anita and her sisters received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in 1998, Anita was singularly inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame. As of 2015, Anita continues to write, record, and perform, maintaining an international touring schedule as a member of The Pointer Sisters. 　　Pointer has been married several times and had one child, Jada, who inspired one of the Pointer Sisters' most popular songs, "Jada," written by the group and released on their debut album. Jada died of cancer in June 2003. Anita's older brother, Aaron Pointer, was a MLB player and NFL referee. Her cousin, Paul Silas, was a NBA player and head coach.