June Pointer

American singer, a member of the "Pointer Sisters" specializing in jazz and be-pop, moving on to solid rock 'n roll in the latter '70s. The sisters were composed of Ruth, born in 1946, Anita, 1948, Bonnie, 1953, and June, 1954. Their many tours nationwide were interspersed with TV appearances, reaching great popularity. Their first record label was in 1973 and they had a Gold Album in 1974 followed by numerous hits and a Platinum LP in 1985. June released two solo albums, in 1983 and 1989. June and her two older brothers and three sisters were raised in a strict Christian upbringing. Their musical abilities emerged from singing in the choir at church where both of her parents were ministers. Their folks became more tolerant of show business as their children became known and praised. June was married her first time for over a decade with no children, but a second marriage produced a daughter, Issa, in 1978. Her marriage to Computer programmer William Whitmore ended in 1991. In 2000, June revealed that her battle with drugs was an ongoing 30-year struggle, almost every day since she was 13. She had started with pot and gradually added cocaine, alcohol, Valium and Xanax. About 1998, she lost control along with her discovery of crack coke, a fast, cheap high and she estimates that she dropped some $20,000 on her habit. In 1999, the bank repossessed her lovely Spanish-style home above Hollywood's Sunset Strip, a home that had begun to resemble a crack house with low-life hangers-on. That winter, Anita and Ruth had enough of June's erratic professional misconduct and hired a replacement. In May 2000, strung out and practically homeless, June reached her low-point. "I'm tired of trying to hide my pain," she said, "My soul is broke." In 2004, after being charged with a felony for cocaine possession and a misdemeanor for possession of a smoking device, she was ordered to a rehabilitation center. Struggling with rehab and AA, she began to pull out of her hell and attempt a reconciliation with her family. On 6/26/2000, the Pointer Sisters performed together once again. Suffering from cancer, the singer was hospitalized in February 2006 and died on April 11, 2006 in Santa Monica, CA. Link to Wikipedia biography