After signing with Richard Perry's independent label Planet Records, in 1978, the group achieved its greatest commercial success in the 1980s as a trio consisting of June, Ruth, and Anita.

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).

In 2015, Anita was forced to retire due to ill health, leaving Ruth the sole member of the original sibling lineup.

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.

Bonnie, the third oldest sister, and June, the youngest, sought a show business career and they formed a duo, 'Pointers Au Pair'.

They began touring and performing and provided backing vocals for artists such as Grace Slick, Sylvester, Boz Scaggs, Taj Mahal, Elvin Bishop and Betty Davis.

Concentrated at Wigan Casino around 1973–1974, Northern soul was an underground music scene comprising American 45 rpm records released at the same time as Tamla Motown and imported into the United Kingdom.

11 on the Billboard Hot 100, while both "Yes We Can Can" and the follow-up single: the Willie Dixon cover "Wang Dang Doodle" were major R&B hits[5] with respective R&B chart peaks of No.

The Pointer Sisters' second album, the 1974 release That's a Plenty, continued in the jazz and be-bop style of its predecessor but provided one exception that caused a great deal of interest: "Fairytale", written by Anita and Bonnie, was a country song that reached No.

Steppin' produced their Grammy-nominated number one R&B single, "How Long (Betcha' Got a Chick on the Side)", which was sampled by female rap icons Salt-N-Pepa a decade later and faithfully covered by Queen Latifah on her 2007 album "Travelin' Light".

The Pointer Sisters also scored another R&B hit from the album with "Going Down Slowly", another Allen Toussaint cover, and in 1976 appeared in the classic film Car Wash with their song from the movie: "You Gotta Believe", making the R&B top 20 in early 1977.

The Pointer Sisters were featured on the 1977 album Saffo Music by Italian R&B singer Lara Saint Paul and produced by Leon Ware, with bass by Chuck Rainey, guitar by Ray Parker Jr. and mixed by Bill Conti.

It was only on the title cut that all four members sang; the album's other songs featured Anita, Bonnie, and Ruth, but not June, who had taken a break from the group at this time.

[5] After contributing guest vocals on the group's cover of Sly Stone's "Everybody Is a Star", June had returned to the act, making it a trio.

The special, which featured guest appearances by Bruce Willis, the McGuire Sisters, and Whoopi Goldberg, was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.

The sisters also were featured in a lavish Diet Coke commercial, which aired during the program, and which presented them singing a soulful jingle about the soda.

Also in 1994, the Pointer Sisters were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and began touring with a production of the Fats Waller-based musical Ain't Misbehavin'.

In 1995 Pointer Sisters recorded "Feel for the Physical" as a duet with Thomas Anders (of Modern Talking fame) for his album Souled.

In 1995–1996, the Pointer Sisters returned to their original jazzy incarnation touring nationally in Ain't Misbehavin'.

"[11] Issa's membership in the Pointer Sisters would remain constant until 2009, Jada having been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the autumn of 2002 and dying June 10, 2003.

[12] In recent years, many Pointer Sisters songs have been covered by contemporary artists, such as "Jump (For My Love)" by Girls Aloud, which reached number two at the UK singles chart in 2003, "Dare Me" was turned into the dance smash "Stupidisco" by Belgian DJ Junior Jack, indie band Le Tigre covered in 2004 "I'm So Excited" on their third album This Island, and French DJ Muttonheads sampled "Back in My Arms" on his 2005 club hit "I'll Be There".

[13] Most recently in 2007, Tommy Boy recording artist Ultra Naté has released a dance-pop cover of "Automatic" that reached #1 at the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts.

The same year, How Long (Betcha' Got a Chick on the Side) was faithfully covered by Queen Latifah on her 2007 album "Travelin' Light".

On June 7, 2006, Anita guest-starred on Celebrity Duets singing with Olympic gymnast Carly Patterson on "I'm So Excited": on the following night's results show the duo's encore was "Jump (For My Love)".

"[16] In the same interview Ruth commented on the Pointer Sisters' profile having dropped in recent years: "We've performed a lot in Europe and Asia and Australia, and it's just that we haven't been very visible publicly in the [US].

"[16] In November 2011, the Pointer Sisters toured Australia and played one gig in New Zealand with a lineup consisting of Ruth, Sadako Johnson and Issa; the last-named was a last-minute and presumably temporary replacement for Anita, who did not feel up to travel due to an unnamed health concern.

[17] Ruth, Sadako Johnson and Issa were the personnel for a February 11, 2012 Pointer Sisters concert in Metairie, Louisiana.

[19] The Pointer Sisters were scheduled to play six Australian dates in May and June 2016 [20] with the lineup of Ruth, Issa and Sadako Johnson.

Anita and Ruth responded that Bonnie had demanded to rejoin the group and was upset that she had been rejected, and that June had left no instructions for her burial.

[25] Bonnie was arrested for allegedly possessing crack cocaine on November 18, 2011, in South Los Angeles, after the car she was riding in was pulled over for a mechanical malfunction.