Pointer was surrounded by family at her Beverly Hills home when she died, publicist Roger Neal said.
Anita was the second oldest of four sisters who started performing as the duo of June and Bonnie in 1969 and soon became a trio when Anita quit her job as a secretary to join the group, according to an official biography.
The Pointer Sisters later became a quartet for a while with Ruth, the only one of the original singing sisters still alive, though Bonnie left the group in the late 1970s and they became a trio once again. The Pointer sisters also have two surviving brothers, Fritz and Aaron.
Anita was preceded in death by her daughter Jada, who died in 2003, when Anita took over raising her granddaughter, Roxie McKain Pointer.
The sisters grew up singing in the church of their father, a preacher in Oakland, California.
Their debut album in 1973 produced their first hit single Yes We Can Can.
Among their bigger hits were Fire in 1978, He's So Shy in 1980, Slow Hand in 1981, and Neutron Dance, Automatic and Jump in 1983. I'm So Excited from 1982 remains a standard.
In recent years, the group continued performing with Ruth singing along with her daughter Issa and granddaughter Sadako.
