Anita Pointer performs at the Venice Family Clinic's 32nd Annual Silver Circle Gala at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on March 3, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
(Credit: Mike Windle/Getty Images)
(CNN) --
Anita Pointer, one of the founding members of the R&B group The Pointer Sisters, has died at age 74, according to her publicist Roger Neal.
Pointer passed away Saturday at her Los Angeles home, where she was surrounded by her family, Neal said in a statement to CNN.
The cause of her death was cancer, she said.
"While we are deeply saddened by the loss of Anita, we take comfort in knowing that she is now with her daughter, Jada and her sisters June and Bonnie and at peace," Pointer's family said in a statement.
"Heaven is a beautiful and most loving place with Anita there."
Vivienne Westwood, designer and fashion icon, dies at 81
“She was the one that kept us all close and together for so long.
Her love for our family will live on in each one of us," the statement said, while asking that the family's privacy be respected" during this period of grief and loss."
The four Pointer Sisters began singing together more than 50 years ago at their hometown church in Oakland, California, where their father was a minister.
Bonnie Pointer and her younger sister, June, made their professional singing debut as a duo in 1969. They later recruited their older sisters Anita and Ruth to join them, before releasing their first album together in 1973.
advertising
The group won their first Grammy Award for their hit "Fairytale" in 1974. They are also known for hits like "Slow Hand," "Neutron Dance" and "Jump."
The group won three Grammy Awards in total and had 13 US Top 20 hits between 1973 and 1985.
CNN's Sandra González contributed to this report.