Californian siblings The Pointer Sisters had a number of pop hits in the 70s and 80s in the funk, disco and new wave styles. Their first hit, the gospel-flavoured action call "Yes We Can Can", came from their gold-selling debut self-titled album of 1973. In 1975 they were invited to be the first black female singers to perform at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, after "Fairytale" crossed into the Country charts.
In 1977, Bonnie Pointer suddenly left the group to pursue a solo career. The remaining trio decided to continue and went on to achieve their greatest successes in the 80s. "He's So Shy" and "Slow Hand" went to No.3 and No.2 in 80 and 81 respectively. In 1983 they released Breakout, which went on to sell over three million copies, boosted by further success by singles like "I'm So Excited", "Automatic" and "Jump (For My Love)". They enjoyed a handful of further hit singles until the mid-80s, before slowly fading from public view.
