The Pointer Sisters are an American R&B singing group from Oakland, California, who achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Spanning over four decades, their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, disco, jazz, electronic music, bebop, blues, soul, funk, dance, country and rock. The Pointer Sisters have won three Grammy Awards and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994. The group had 13 US top 20 hits between 1973 and 1985. 　　The group had its origins when sisters June and Bonnie Pointer began performing in clubs in 1969 as "Pointers, a Pair". The line-up grew to a trio when sister Anita Pointer joined them. They got a record deal with Atlantic Records and released several unsuccessful singles. The trio grew to a quartet when sister Ruth joined in December 1972. They then signed with Blue Thumb Records, recorded their debut album, and began seeing more success, winning a Grammy Award in 1975 for Best Country Vocal Performance for "Fairytale" (1974). Bonnie left the group in 1978 to commence a solo career with modest success. 　　The group achieved its greatest commercial success as a trio during the 1980s consisting of the line-up of June, Ruth, and Anita, winning two more Grammys for the top 10 hits "Jump (for My Love)" (1984) and "Automatic" (1984). The group's other U.S. top 10 hits are "Fire" (1979), "He's So Shy" (1980), "Slow Hand" (1981), the remixed version of "I'm So Excited" (1984) and "Neutron Dance" (1985). June Pointer, the youngest sister, struggled with drug addiction for much of her career, leaving the group in April 2004 and dying from extensive cancer in April 2006, at the age of 52. She was replaced by Ruth's daughter Issa Pointer. This trio had a number two hit in Belgium in 2005, covering "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" with Belgian singer Natalia. Since 2009, the group has consisted of Anita, Ruth, Issa, and Ruth's granddaughter Sadako Pointer. While all four women remain in the group, they most often perform as a trio rotating the lineup as needed. 　　In December 2016, Billboard magazine ranked them as the 80th most successful dance artists of all-time.[2] In December 2017, Billboard magazine ranked them as the 93rd most successful Hot 100 Artist of all-time[3] and as the 32nd most successful Hot 100 Women Artist of all-time． 　　Early days 　　As children in West Oakland, the Pointer sisters and brothers were encouraged to listen to and sing gospel music by their parents Reverend Elton Pointer and Sarah Pointer. However, they were told rock and roll and the blues were "the devil's music", and it was only when they were away from their watchful parents that they could sing these styles. They regularly sang at a local Church of God in Christ congregation in West Oakland, but as the sisters grew older their love of other styles of music began to grow. When June, the youngest sister, brought home a copy of the Elvis Presley record All Shook Up, she was surprised that her mother allowed her to play it, until discovering that her mother had been pacified by the song "Crying in the Chapel" on the "B" side of the record 　　The sisters graduated from Oakland Technical High School: Ruth in 1963, Anita in 1965, and Bonnie in 1968. After leaving school Ruth, the oldest sister, was already married with two children Faun (born 1965) and Malik (born 1966), Anita, the second oldest sister, also was married with a child Jada. Bonnie, the third oldest sister, and June, the youngest, sought a show business career and they formed a duo, "Pointers, A Pair." Later, Anita quit her job to join the group. They began touring and performing and provided backing vocals for artists such as Grace Slick, Sylvester James, Boz Scaggs and Elvin Bishop. It was while supporting Bishop at a nightclub appearance in 1971 that the sisters were signed to a recording contract with Atlantic Records. The resulting singles that came from their Atlantic tenure failed to become hits but, nevertheless, the sisters were enjoying their newfound recording career. One recording, however, has become a Northern Soul classic i.e. "Send him back" Atlantic 45 2893. Massive at Wigan Casino around 1973-1974; Northern Soul being the underground music scene comprising American 45s released at the same time as Tamla Motown and imported into the United Kingdom. Send him back is still a monster around the constantly revitalizing Northern Soul scene now worldwide. The temptation to join them finally overwhelmed Ruth and, in December 1972, she joined the group. The quartet signed to Blue Thumb Records and began to record their first full-fledged album. 　　Upon signing, they agreed that they did not want to follow the current trend of pop music but wanted to create an original sound that combined jazz music, jazz singing, and be-bop music. In search of a visual style for their act, they remembered the poverty of their childhood and their ability to improvise, and used their experience to assemble a collection of vintage 1940s clothes from thrift shops, that would comprise their costumes and give them the distinctive look they were searching for. 　　In 1976, they were asked to record "Pinball Number Count" for Sesame Street, which was a series of educational cartoons teaching kids how to count. It made its debut in 1977 and was a feature on the show for many years. 　　They made their television debut performance at the Troubadour nightclub in Los Angeles on The Helen Reddy Show. In 1974, they joined Reddy on the track "Showbiz" which appeared on her "Free and Easy" album.