Final goodbye: Recalling influential people who died in 2020
The world also said goodbye to U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement who died in July. Other former political figures who died this year include Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, New York Mayor David Dinkins, Arizona Gov. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2020 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___David Stern, 77. The guitarist who supplied the scratching, seething sound that fueled the highly influential British punk band Gang of Four. He fused African rhythms with funk to become one of the most influential musicians in world dance music.
Bonnie Pointer, early member of Pointer Sisters, dies at 69
LOS ANGELES Bonnie Pointer, who in 1969 convinced three of her church-singing siblings to form the Pointer Sisters, which would become one of the biggest acts of the next two decades, died Monday. It is with great sadness that I have to announce to the fans of the Pointer Sisters that my sister, Bonnie died this morning, sister Anita Pointer said in a statement. The Pointer Sisters would never have happened had it not been for Bonnie," Anita Pointer said in her statement. She had always told me, mother, I want something for myself," Bonnie's mother Sarah Pointer told Ebony in 1974. In addition to Ruth and Anita, Bonnie Pointer is survived by her two older brothers, Aaron and Fritz.