Popular music audiences in the late twentieth century had never seen anything like the Pointer Sisters. Throughout their career, they defied categorization like no other female group had ever done, all while maintaining their substantial popularity. They took risks, and in doing so, expanded the boundaries in music for all women. They had a strong, self-aware style that came through whatever type of music they happened to be singing, and this style influenced the changing social mores of the 1970s and 1980s surrounding women.

Born in Oakland, California, sisters Ruth (1946), Anita (1948), Bonnie (1950), and June (1954) had a strict upbringing. Both of their parents were ministers in the West Oakland Church of God, and for many years church singing was their only form of public entertaining. Eventually Bonnie and June began performing in San Francisco clubs as a duo. Their sister Anita joined them later, and...