Anita began her professional singing career in 1969, when she quit her job as a secretary in a legal office and joined her sisters Bonnie and June, who were then performing as a duo, calling themselves Pointers-A-Pair. When the group became three, The Pointer Sisters were born. (Prior to their debut album,Ruth joined to form the quartet, see group bio). Throughout her career, Anita has worked on various solo projects. In 1986, her duet with Earl Thomas Conley, “Too Many Times” reached #2 on Billboard’s Country Chart. She also filmed a video for the country hit that featured her singing in the studio with Earl. Anita made her official solo debut in 1987 when RCA Records released Love For What It Is. The album revisited the country influence that first appeared in the Pointers’ “Fairytale”. Highlights included a romantic duet with Philip Bailey, “The Pledge”, and the record’s first single, “Overnight Success”, which reached #41 on the R&B chart. A stylish video accompanied the single and Anita performed on various television shows to promote the album, including: American Bandstand, Soul Train and The Arsenio Hall Show. Note: In 1977, Anita recorded an album for ABC Records (LP - unreleased). In 1998, Anita was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame. Although a native of California, she spent many summers with relatives in Arkansas. A prolific songwriter, Anita has contributed generously to many of the Pointer Sisters’ albums. Her talents even attracted the King himself, Elvis Presley, who recorded “Fairytale” (written by Anita and Bonnie). She has also penned material for other artists, including Jeff Lorber’s ’80s classic, “Step By Step”. In her free time, armed with a paintbrush, Anita enjoys honing her skills as an artist. She is also a collector of black memorabilia. Over the years, while traveling the world on tour, her collection has grown tremendously in size and in value. A representative from Sotheby’s visited Anita in her Beverly Hills home to appraise the collection and was overwhelmed by it. He suggested that she loan items to a museum or open a museum of her own! In an interview with Celebrity Collector Magazine, Anita said it’s much harder to find black memorabilia today than it was twenty years ago. “I started collecting in the early ‘80’s, and you could pretty much find items everywhere. Not any more. Black memorabilia has become a very popular collectible. I know what I’ve accumulated is valuable, and I’ve even thought about putting it on Ebay, but I just can’t part with it.” Today, Anita continues to write, record and perform. In 2005, Anita recorded “Take Me Home” for An All-Star Tribute to Cher on Cleopatra Records. In 2006, she appeared on the FOX reality tv-show Celebrity Duets and performed with Olympic Champion Carly Patterson. She maintains a busy international tour schedule with her sister Ruth and Ruth’s daughter, Issa as a member of The Pointer Sisters. She also peforms solo on occassion. Songs that are fan favorites with Anita on lead vocal include: “Yes We Can, Can”, “Fire”, “Slow Hand”, “I’m So Excited”, “Freedom”, “Insanity” and “I Want |
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