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02 Jan 2023

Here Are the Biggest Music NFTs in December as Year Ends 95% Down From January

NFTs had a wild 2022. January began with euphoric highs and a record $4.8 billion traded on OpenSea. By contrast, December ended the year with a hangover — volumes down by 95% with just $283 million traded in the month.

Still, the crypto winter hasn’t deterred musicians from embracing Web3. December saw an uptick in music NFT activity thanks to legacy artists Armin van Buuren and Styles P, as well as high-profile drops from crypto-native musicians like 3LAU and Daniel Allan. The first “billion club” NFT was released, unlocking streaming royalties in a track with more than a billion Spotify plays. Meanwhile, the independent scene continued to flourish with a seventh-straight month of rising volume on Sound.xyz – the largest platform for independent musicians.

Across the 10 biggest music NFT projects tracked by Billboard in December, sales volume was up 28% in ETH terms (751 ETH) and 23% in dollar terms ($949,781) from November. Based on analysis of sales data from 19 different NFT platforms, independent releases combined with secondary sales volume on OpenSea, here are the 10 biggest-selling music NFTs and collections in December 2022.

1/ Styles P – “The Farmacy Fantoms”
Monthly trading volume: 205 ETH ($249,280 at month-end conversion rate)
Primary sales: 170 ETH
Secondary sales: 35 ETH
Drop date: Nov. 28

The Farmacy Fantoms is a music NFT project by rapper Styles P. The collection of 6,666 animated ghost characters come with different visual traits and one of ten different tracks. In the future, holders will also get access to events and discounts on Styles P brand products.

View the collection on OpenSea.

2/ Armin van Buuren – “Armin’s All-Access (AAA)”
Monthly trading volume: $210,120
Primary sales: $189,448
Secondary sales: 17 ETH ($20,672)
Drop date: Dec. 13

Superstar DJ Armin van Buuren launched an all-access pass in December, granting NFT holders entry into a Web3 fan club community. The NFT unlocks an exclusive section of the DJ’s Discord server, as well as access to unreleased tracks, studio livestreams and exclusive events. Each NFT comes with music by the Dutch producer and 10 variations of digital artwork by Rik Oostenbroek. The duo sold 952 passes in December, at $199 each.

View the collection on OpenSea.

3/ Reo Cragun x Daniel Allan – “Criteria EP”
Monthly trading volume: 138.67 ETH ($168,622)
Primary sales: 94.247 ETH
Secondary sales: 44.324 ETH
Drop date: Dec. 15

Two of the biggest names in the independent music NFT scene teamed up to end the year with a bang. Criteria is an 8-track EP fusing electronic production from Allan and hip hop vocals from Cragun – who previously collaborated on Flume’s “Quits” EP. In December, the duo released 2,500 NFTs with a unique rarity structure. The rarest track, “Criteria,” has just 25 editions making it significantly more valuable than the most common track, “Supercharged” with 1,000 editions. “Supercharged” has a floor price of 0.056 ETH ($68) on secondary markets while the rare “Criteria” has a floor price of 3 ETH ($3,648).

Criteria was the largest ever drop on music NFT platform Sound.xyz, and despite the broader bear market in crypto, the drop sold out in approximately an hour. The collection was heavily supported by the leading music NFTs collectors, or “whales,” — many purchased more than 100 each.

View the collection on OpenSea.

4/ Violetta Zironi – “Moonshot” / “Gypsy Heart”
Monthly trading volume: 59 ETH ($71,744)
Primary sales: 40 ETH
Secondary sales: 19 ETH
Drop date: April 2022

Violetta Zironi is establishing herself as one of the most consistent independent artists in the space, appearing in this top 10 for four of the last seven months. Her debut “Moonshot” collection — featuring artwork from her father, Disney animator Giuseppe Zironi — continues to generate strong sales on OpenSea with 19.24 ETH traded in December.

Her new collection Gypsy Heart is now being rolled out to existing fans and holders through an early access mint pass. Zironi sold 500 mint passes in December (out of a total 5,000), generating 40 ETH. The project will go live to the public in January.

View the collection on OpenSea.

5/ 3LAU – “Too Late for Love”
Monthly trading volume: $58,839 (48.3 ETH)
Primary sales: $58,839
Secondary sales: N/A
Drop date: Dec. 14

Electronic producer and DJ 3LAU set records back in 2021 with an $11.6 million NFT sale. Since then, he launched the Web3 music platform Royal, allowing fans to own a percentage of streaming royalties in tracks by The Chainsmokers, Diplo and others.

In December, 3LAU released his first single of the year, and his first NFT drop since 2021, “Too Late for Love.” Released via his platform Royal, the producer sold 330 gold tokens, each representing 0.1165% of streaming royalties in the track, and three diamond tokens, each granting 3.8488% of streaming royalties as well as backstage access to 3LAU events for life.

6/ Offset and Metro Boomin – “Rick Flare Drip”
Monthly trading volume: 42 ETH ($51,072)
Primary sales: 39 ETH
Secondary sales: 3 ETH
Drop date: Dec. 1

The first ever NFT from Spotify’s “Billions Club.” “Rick Flare Drip” has more than 1 billion streams on Spotify, and now fans can own a small piece of the future streaming revenue. The royalties were unlocked through a partnership with Bijan Amir — one of the producers on the track. “This is my first foray into Web3 and crypto,” said Amir. “I wanted to do something meaningful when I did. I love the idea of fans getting a share of my rights, instead of me selling a share of my masters to some investor.” The NFTs were sold via Anotherblock, a Web3 platform that sells streaming royalties in some of the world’s biggest tracks.

View the collection on OpenSea.

7/ KINGSHIP – “Key Cards”
Monthly trading volume: 25 ETH ($30,400)
Primary sales (in Dec): N/A
Secondary sales: 25 ETH
Drop date: May 2022

The Bored Ape supergroup secured its seventh-straight month in this top 10 thanks to consistent sales on secondary markets like OpenSea. In December, the group began teasing video footage from the studio where producers Hit-Boy and James Fauntleroy are currently working on the band’s music.

View the collection on OpenSea.

8/ Rae Isla – “Rocks”
Monthly trading volume: 23 ETH ($24,320)
Primary sales (in Dec): 20 ETH
Secondary sales: 3 ETH
Drop date: Nov. 28

Independent singer-songwriter Rae Isla was featured in November after selling the first 600 NFTs from her “Rocks” project — a collection of 1,000 NFTs made up of four tracks, each with different rarities and artwork released through Nifty Music — a music NFT accelerator. Isla returned to the top ten in December after selling the remaining 400 and capturing a further 3 ETH in secondary sales on OpenSea.

View the collection on OpenSea.

9/ WVRPS by Warpsound
Monthly trading volume: 20 ETH ($24,320)
Primary sales (in Dec): N/A
Secondary sales: 20 ETH
Drop date: January 2022

WVRPSound is the biggest music NFT project ever in terms of trading volume. Since launching in January last year, the collection of AI-generated music and animated characters have earned more than 6,000 ETH in volume (approximately $7.3 million). In December, the project gave away an album of AI music to holders which triggered a fresh wave of trading activity.

WVRPSound also announced a tool for artists to create multitrack NFT albums. Now, an entire album can be minted as an NFT with interactive buttons to skip tracks. It sounds simple, but this hasn’t been done before at scale. Until now the only other example was an early experiment by an indie band called Talk Time. WRVPSound made the technology open source for anyone to use.

View the collection on OpenSea.

10/ Sammy Arriaga – “Pixelated”
Monthly trading volume: 17 ETH ($20,672)
Primary sales (in Dec): N/A
Secondary sales: 17 ETH
Drop date: June 2022

Bringing country to crypto, Sammy Arriaga is a singer-songwriter that launched an NFT project called “Pixelated” back in June. Based around 12 different versions of one song, Pixelated is a collection of 4,000 NFTs, each with a unique pixelated profile picture which Arriaga’s fans use across their social media accounts. The Pixelated project has enjoyed steady volume on secondary markets like OpenSea since the launch, but volume picked up in November and December.

View the collection on OpenSea.

Methodology: The chart was compiled using data from primary music NFT sales across 19 different NFT platforms, independent releases and combined with secondary volume data from OpenSea. Data was captured between Dec. 1 – Dec. 31, 2022. Conversion rates from crypto to US dollars were calculated on Dec. 31.

Disclosure: The author owns music NFTs from Reo Cragun and Daniel Allan, however, the above list is based purely on sales data.

02 Jan 2023

Sara Bareilles Says ‘Yes to Marrying’ Joe Tippett

Sara Bareilles is ringing in 2023 by announcing plans to marry longtime boyfriend Joe Tippett.

The musician and Girls5Eva star took to Instagram on New Year’s Day to reveal that she said “yes to marrying” the Mare of Easttown actor.

“You are exactly who I want,” Bareilles wrote of Tippett in an Instagram caption alongside a photo of the two of them looking into each other’s eyes, with Bareilles wearing a gold band on her left ring finger.

“The more I know you the more I know I love you…and you have introduced me to parts of myself I was afraid to love. And now I love ME more because of you,” she continued before joking. “So really this is all about me. Just kidding.”

Getting serious again, she wrote, “What a gift you are. Let the games begin. Onward into absolutely everything with you.”

In her Instagram Story, Bareilles wrote that her New Year’s resolution was to “marry this man,” posting a carousel of photos of the two of them in which they “tried to be normal.”

A few months ago, Bareilles celebrated the pair’s seven-year anniversary, writing on Instagram, “The world that is burning has somehow brought me someone like @joetipps who I am constantly in awe of and inspired by and challenged by and infuriated by and loved by in a way I can’t even describe except I know it is Truth with a capital T.”

And earlier this month, Tippett — whose credits include Spirited, Alaska Daily, The Morning Show and Rise — called Bareilles his “absolute favorite person” in a post marking her birthday.

“Happy Birthday to the sunshine in my eyes. The star at the center of my solar system. My lighthouse in a storm. The laugh that melts away my cynicism,” Tippett wrote on Instagram of the Grammy winner.

According to reports, the two met while working on the Broadway musical adaptation of the Adrienne Shelly film Waitress. Bareilles wrote the music and lyrics for the production while Tippett played Earl. Bareilles also spent time starring in the production as Jenna.

It was recently announced that after two seasons on NBCUniversal’s Peacock, Girls5Eva is moving to Netflix for its third season.

During an appearance on The Tonight Show earlier this year, Bareilles talked about how Tippett helped calm her nerves over acting in the comedy series executive produced by Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, Meredith Scardino and Jeff Richmond.

“I was struggling with insecurities about being able to meet the challenge of it and I felt really out of my depth,” Bareilles said. “And he’s like, ‘If Tina Fey believes that you can do this, why don’t you just trust her? If you can’t find it in yourself, just trust that one of your heroes is not going to put you in a position to fail.’ And that was really good advice.”

The pair previously sparked engagement rumors when Bareilles commemorated their three-year anniversary on Instagram, writing, “Can’t wait for it to be forever.”

She later clarified that the pair were not engaged, sharing a photo of her ringless hand and writing, “Not engaged everyone but thank you for all the cute wishes and the reminder that my post may have [misled] you. Haha sorrryyyyyyy.”

This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.

02 Jan 2023

SZA’s ‘SOS’ Tops Billboard 200 for Third Week in a Row

SZA’s SOS rules the Billboard 200 chart (dated Jan. 7) for a third straight and total week as the set earned 128,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 29 (down 29%), according to Luminate. Plus, five holiday albums populate the top 10 — the most in a year — led by Michael Bublé’s former No. 1 Christmas.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Jan. 7, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Jan. 4 (one day later than usual, due to the New Year’s Day holiday on Jan. 1). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Of SOS’ 128,000 equivalent album units earned, SEA units comprise 126,500 (down 29%, equaling 168.73 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks), album sales comprise 1,000 (down 20%) and TEA units comprise 500 (up 3%).

SOS is the first R&B album by a woman to spend three weeks at No. 1 since Beyoncé’s self-titled effort also spent its first three weeks atop the list in 2013. (R&B albums are defined as those that have hit Billboard’s Top R&B Albums chart.)

Taylor Swift’s former No. 1 Midnights is a non-mover at No. 2 with 106,000 equivalent album units (down 32%), while Bublé’s Christmas rises 5-3 with 62,000 units (down 14%). Christmas is one of five holiday albums in the top 10, the most in the region since the chart dated Jan. 2, 2022, when the top 10 also housed five festive sets.

Metro Boomin’s chart-topping Heroes & Villains is stationary at No. 4 with 58,000 equivalent album units earned (down 24%). Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song hits a new peak, rising 7-5 with 57,000 units. It previously topped out at No. 6, first achieved on the Jan. 2, 2021-dated list.

Drake and 21 Savage’s former leader, Her Loss, holds at No. 6 with 50,000 equivalent album units earned (down 16%) and Bad Bunny’s former No. 1 Un Verano Sin Ti climbs 10-7 with 48,000 (down 9%). A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector climbs to a new chart high, rising 11-8 with 47,000 units (down 1%). The set had earlier plateaued at No. 10 on the Jan. 8, 2022-dated tally. Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas is a non-mover at No. 9 with 47,000 units (down 10%) and Vince Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack falls 8-10 with 45,000 units (down 20%).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

02 Jan 2023

Woman Claims Newly Engaged LaKeith Stanfield Is Her Baby Daddy

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Actor LaKeith Stanfield is kicking off the new year with a heaping helping of baby mama drama. A woman claims the engaged Atlanta star is the father of her new baby daughter, Apollo.

The woman scorned is Tylor Hurd, and she made her claims of Stanfield being a deadbeat in the court of social media.

Reports Page Six:

On Saturday, artist Tylor Hurd posted an Instagram reel of her baby girl and the “Sorry to Bother You” actor, 31, sharing sweet moments together. In one part of the clip, Stanfield could be seen dancing in front of the newborn as she sat in a chair watching him.

The “Atlanta” actor was also photographed holding Apollo for a photo shoot and at a family entertainment center.

“decided to leave being someone’s secret family in 2022 ❤️ meet Apollo Stanfield,” Hurd, 24, captioned the post.

In now-deleted comments captured by The Neighborhood Talk, Stanfield seemingly took an issue with Hurd posting their daughter.

Welp, it seems like Stanfield is claiming the kid, but Hurd feels he’s not been putting in enough time as father.

Not so coincidentally, the actor had just announced his engagement to someone else—his girlfriend Kasmerre Trice—before Hurd went nuclear on the Internets.

Stanfield also has a child, who was reportedly born in June 2017, with ex-girlfriend Xosha Roquemore.

02 Jan 2023

Memphis Legend Gangsta Boo Dead At 43

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Gangsta Boo, a member of the legendary Three 6 Mafia group, has died. According to reports from local outlets, the rapper was found unresponsive at her home on New Year’s Day (Jan. 1).

Local outlet Action 5 News reported that Gangsta Boo, real name Lola Mitchell, was found dead inside her home while visiting Memphis, presumably for the holidays. Action 5 News spoke with an associate of Three 6 Mafia, Mr. Del, who shared that Mitchell moved to Los Angeles and was working on an album reportedly titled The Boo-Print. Earlier this year, Hip-Hop wired spoke exclusively with Gangsta Boo in connection to her appearance on the series Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition.

Mitchell recorded six albums with Three 6 Mafia, beginning with the group’s debut Mystic Stylez in 1995. She embarked on a solo career in 1998 with the debut album Enquiring Minds, and also a series of mixtapes, including two hosted by DJ Drama and Trap-A-Holics respectively. More recently, Mitchell delivered a pair of scene-stealing cameos with Run The Jewels on the tracks “Love Again (Akinyele Back) ” and “Walking in the Snow.”

DJ Paul joined many others in offering tribute to the late rapper as the news continued to go wide across social media and news feeds. Hip-Hop fans rightly noted how influential Mitchell was to other southern women rappers and helped pave the way for their success.

We’ve gathered some reactions from Twitter and have them listed out below.

Gangsta Boo was 43.

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Photo: Jason Kempin / Getty

01 Jan 2023

Box Office: ‘Avatar 2’ Rocks New Year’s Weekend, Crosses $1.4B Globally

Avatar: The Way of Water will ring in 2023 in style.

James Cameron’s tentpole is expected to finish the long New Year’s weekend with an estimated $440 million-plus domestically, well ahead of the first Avatar, which came out of the year-end holidays with $352 million on its way to earning north of $750 million domestically (that includes rereleases). The 2009 film still ranks as the top-grossing movie of all time globally with $2.92 billion in ticket sales.

Avatar: The Way of Water will cross $1.4 billion in worldwide ticket sales sometime on Monday after sprinting past the $1.37 billion mark on Sunday (Imax accounts for a huge $152.2 million, the fourth-best showing of all time.) That puts it among the 15 biggest films of all time.

Overseas, the sequel grossed a sizeable $186.7 million for the three-day weekend for a foreign tally of $956.9 million. That includes $152.8 million from China, where the movie has gained strength, $95.1 million from France, $74.9 million from South Korea, $67.2 million from Germany and $54.2 million from the U.K.

In North America, The Way of Water is on course to gross $82.4 million for the four-day holiday weekend. The 20th Century and Disney film is doing far more business than any other year-end release in what’s been a bummer for other Hollywood studios.

This puts overall domestic revenue for 2022 at roughly $7.4 billion, 68 percent ahead of 2021 but 38 percent down from 2019, the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Comscore.

The next closest New Year’s performer is DreamWorks Animation and Universal’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, which is looking at a four-day gross of $22.2 million for a muted domestic tally of $65.6 million or more. At the foreign box office, the family pic earned another $22.5 million for an international tally of $68.8 million and $134.9 million globally.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has remained a major force and will come in at No. 3 over the long New Year’s weekend with an estimated $6.5 million. That will push the Marvel pic’s global cume to nearly $820 million.

Whitney: Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody is expected to follow with a muted $5.4 million for the extended weekend. The biopic, alongside Babylon, opened Dec. 23, two days after Puss in Boots 2 launched (Avatar 2 began its run on Dec. 16).

TriStar’s I Wanna Dance with Somebody, which cost $45 million to make before marketing, should finish Monday with a tepid domestic total of $16 million. The movie is faring better overseas, grossing $8.3 million from 44 markets for a foreign tally of $13.1 million and $29.1 million globally.

From Paramount, Damien Chazelle’s Babylon is an even bigger disappointment, having cost $78 million to produce before marketing. The movie, which will no doubt lose tens of millions, is looking at a four-day gross of just $3.6 million for a domestic total of $11 million through Monday (it isn’t launching overseas until January).

There are no new wide releases over New Year’s weekend.

At the specialty box office, Tom Hanks-starred A Man Called Otto is opening in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles. The Sony movie should post a pleasing location average of $18,750 for the holiday weekend.

Among other specialty releases, The Whale expanded into more than 600 theaters. The movie should place No. 7 this weekend with an estimated $1.8 million for a domestic total of $6.2 million through Monday.

MGM and UAR’s Women Talking, opening over Christmas in eight locations, grossed an estimated $53,000 this weekend for a location average of $6,625.

This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.

01 Jan 2023

Nick Cannon Laughs Off Andy Cohen’s Vasectomy Question on New Year’s Eve: ‘My Body, My Choice!’

Nick Cannon has a message for those who question whether he should stop having kids: “My body, my choice!”

Just days after welcoming his 12th child, the Masked Singer host was questioned by Andy Cohen during CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live special on Saturday night (Dec. 31) about his growing family and whether he’d consider getting a vasectomy.

“Nick, I mean, you are singlehandedly repopulating the Earth. I give it up to you, man. What is your plan here? What is your endgame with the kids? You just want to keep going, or is there a number? Do you want to hit 20? Where are we going with this?” asked Cohen, who was co-hosting the broadcast alongside Anderson Cooper.

Cannon, dressed in all white, laughed off the comment, responding, “Andy, clearly I don’t have a plan. Honestly, man, it’s just so much joy and elation to have the family that I have. I embrace it, and I love it, but I don’t have a plan. That should’ve been clear from the jump.”

Cohen quickly hit back suggesting that perhaps Cannon should consider getting a vasectomy. “Is that what you want me to get?” Cannon said before flashing a smile and adding, “This is my body, my choice!”

The Masked Singer host closed out the segment by sharing his advice for new father’s in 2023. “Just operate out of love. Some people may say that’s what got us here in the first place, but that’s what I would always do, and always do it with a smile,” he said.

On Thursday (Dec. 29), Cannon announced the birth of his second child — a daughter named Halo Marie — with Alyssa Scott. He’s now father to five daughters and seven sons.

Cannon shares twins Monroe and Moroccan with ex-wife Mariah Carey, and twins Zion and Zillion with Abby De La Rosa, who gave birth to her third baby with Cannon, Beautiful Zeppelin, less than two months prior to Halo’s birth.

He is also dad to Golden Sagon, Powerful Queen and Rise Messiah, whom he shares with Brittany Bell; Legendary Love, whose mom is Bre Tiesi; and Onyx Ice Cole with LaNisha Cole.

Watch the exchange below on CNN’s Twitter account.

01 Jan 2023

Jeremiah Green, Founding Member & Drummer of Modest Mouse, Dies at 45

Jeremiah Green, founding member and drummer for rock band Modest Mouse, has died following his battle with cancer. He was 45.

The musician’s passing was announced by Modest Mouse in an emotional social media post on New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31).

“I don’t know a way to ease into this: Today we lost our dear friend Jeremiah. He laid down to rest and simply faded out,” the band wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of Green.

“I’d like to say a bunch of pretty words right now, but it just isn’t the time. These will come later, and from many people. Please appreciate all the love you give, get, have given, and will get. Above all, Jeremiah was about love. We love you.”

Green’s mother, Carol Namatame, initially broke the news of her son’s cancer in a Facebook post on Christmas Day (Dec. 25). In her note, Namatame included the detail that his cancer was stage 4.

“Please send healing vibes for my son, Jeremiah Green, who is battling stage 4 cancer. He’s is so strong and so brave and hanging in there!” Namatame wrote alongside photos of the rocker.

Following the announcement of Green’s passing, numerous artists from across the music community shared their condolences in the comments section of Modest Mouse’s post, including Maggie Rogers, Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney, and former Modest Mouse guitarist Jim Fairchild.

Rogers shared an emoji of a light gray heart, while Carney wrote, “Rest In Peace Jeremiah.” Fairchild added, “JG. I love you. Always. Forever.”

Former Smiths and Modest Mouse guitarist Johnny Marr also shared a tribute to Green on Twitter. “The great Jeremiah Green. My friend, bandmate, and the most creative musician I ever met,” he wrote.

Due to his chemotherapy treatments, Green was forced to pull out of Modest Mouse’s recently completed tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of their 1997 sophomore album, The Lonesome Crowded West. The group’s most recent studio set, meanwhile, was 2021’s The Golden Casket, which was the last to feature members Jim Fairchild and Lisa Molinaro, and included singles “We Are Between,” “Leave a Light On” and “The Sun Hasn’t Left.”

Green helped form the popular rock band in Seattle back in 1992. He played on every one of the band’s albums, except for Good News for People Who Love Bad News, which was released in 2004. The star took a break from the band from 2003 to 2004.

See Modest Mouse’s post about Green’s passing on Instagram below.

01 Jan 2023

Anita Pointer, Singer of The Pointer Sisters, Dies at 74

Anita Pointer, one of four sibling singers who earned pop success and critical acclaim as The Pointer Sisters, died Saturday (Dec. 31) at the age of 74, her publicist announced.

The Grammy winner passed away while she was with family members, publicist Roger Neal said in a statement. A cause of death was not immediately revealed.

“While we are deeply saddened by the loss of Anita, we are comforted in knowing she is now with her daughter Jada and her sisters June & Bonnie and at peace. She was the one that kept all of us close and together for so long,” her sister Ruth, brothers Aaron and Fritz and granddaughter Roxie McKain Pointer said in the statement.

Anita Pointer’s only daughter, Jada Pointer, died in 2003.

Anita, Ruth, Bonnie and June Pointer, born the daughters of a minister, grew up singing in their father’s church in Oakland, California.

The group’s 1973 self-titled debut album included the breakout hit, “Yes We Can Can.” Known for hit songs including “I’m So Excited,” “Slow Hand,” “Neutron Dance” and “Jump (For My Love),” the singers gained a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994.

The 1983 album, Break Out, went triple platinum and garnered two American Music Awards. The group won three Grammy Awards and had 13 U.S. top 20 hit songs between 1973 and 1985, Neal said.

The Pointer Sisters also was the first African American group to perform on the Grand Ole Opry program and the first contemporary act to perform at the San Francisco Opera House, Neal said.

Bonnie Pointer left the group in 1977, signing a solo deal with Motown Records but enjoying only modest success. “We were devastated,” Anita Pointer said of the departure in 1990. “We did a show the night she left, but after that, we just stopped. We thought it wasn’t going to work without Bonnie.”

The group, in various lineups including younger family members, continued recording through 1993.

June Pointer died of cancer at the age of 52 in 2006.

Anita Pointer announced Bonnie Pointer’s death resulting from cardiac arrest at the age of 69 in 2020. “The Pointer Sisters would never have happened had it not been for Bonnie,” she said in a statement.