RIP Bonnie Pointer of the Pointer Sisters

She formed the group with her real-life siblings June and Anita in '69 and was a key driver of the group's eclectic early days, mixing R&B, jazz, throwback vocal harmonies and even country (they won a Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance in 1975 "Fairytale," cowritten by Bonnie and Anita). She left the group in the late '70s for a solo career before her sisters (plus latecomer Ruth) became pop superstars -- but she was the only Pointer with solo hits. She left the rest of us on Monday, age 69.

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