Farewell, June Pointer

I'm sad to report another celebrity death this week.  June Pointer died on Tuesday.  She was only 52, and was the youngest of the singing group The Pointer Sisters.  Official reports say June died of cancer, but she had been hospitalized since February since she suffered a heart attack and a stroke.  Her family said she died in the arms of her sisters and singing partners, Ruth and Anita. 

During their career, The Pointer Sisters brought us dance club staples like "I'm So Excited" and "Jump." The Pointer Sisters began as a quartet in the early 1970s with sisters Ruth, Anita, Bonnie and June. The group became a trio when Bonnie embarked on a solo career. The group's hits also included "He's So Shy," "Automatic" and "Neutron Dance." June sang the lead vocals on "He's So Shy" and "Jump."  The sisters, along with their two older brothers, grew up singing in the choir of an Oakland church where their parents were ministers.

As we find with a lot of celebrities, June Pointer had some drug problems in the past and fought substance abuse.  In an interview in People Magazine in August 2000, June said drugs had been a part of her life every day since she was 13. She said she started with pot, and then moved on to cocaine, and confessed to being hooked on crack.  The People article was about her newfound sobriety, but yet a couple of years later she would be kicked out of The Pointer Sisters for falling off the wagon again and missing performances.  In 2004, she was arrested and charged with possession fo cocaine and drug paraphernalia outside her sister Bonnie's Hollywood apartment.  Later that year, she was arrested again and charged with battery for attacking her boyfriend after a binge of crack. 

I don't know if she fell off the wagon again at the time of the heart attack and stroke, but I'm guessing that after all those years the damage had already been done.  It's just sad to see a woman in her early fifties, a woman with so much talent, squander her life away with drugs.  But it appears she had demons and the thought the drugs and alcohol would help get rid of them.  Rest in peace, June Pointer.  You will be missed.