Special Edition: Bonnie Pointer 6/9/20

Great Songs of the '70s Special Edition: Bonnie Pointer of the Pointer Sisters passes away at the age of 69.

Here is the official obituary from Rolling Stone Magazine:https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bonnie-pointer-dead-pointer-sisters-obit-1011816/

The Pointer Sisters had numerous “Great Songs” in the '70s and '80s, but only 3 hits before Bonnie left her sisters to go solo.

Narrowing down my choices of of what to highlight that included Bonnie, I decided to go with the song that REALLY got them noticed...the song that crossed formats in a completely unexpected manner...and won them a Grammy Award in a category no one could have predicted.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present, 1974's “Fairytale.”

The song was written by Anita after an ugly breakup and polished up by Bonnie before it was recorded and released—to COUNTRY STATIONS. It only reached #37 on Billboard's Country Chart, but it got them a gig on The Grand 'Ole Opry—making the Pointers the first female African-American group to play on the show (and one of the very few black acts to appear up to that point).

It also won the Grammy for the “Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group!”

All that attention did not escape the eyes and ears of Pop and Rock radio programmers, who added it to their playlists and saw the song soar to #13 on both the “Hot 100” and “Adult Contemporary Charts. In Canada, it topped off at #27 on The Adult Contemporary Chart.

Rest in Peace, Bonnie Pointer. From 1974: