Pointer Sisters, Commodores, Spinners headline 'Evening of Icons' at Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
Ruth Pointer, Sadako Pointer, Issa Pointer of the Pointer Sisters perform during the 2017 Capital Pride Concert in Washington, D.C. Credit: WireImage/John Lamparski
Three legendary acts will play that funky music, as well as R&B and soul, when “An Evening of Icons” takes place July 25 at the Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater. Co-headlining will be the Commodores and The Pointer Sisters, with opening act The Spinners.
General-public tickets go on sale 10 a.m. Friday at LiveNation.com.
The Commodores, whose hit singles range from the anthemic “Brick House” to the laidback “Easy” and “Three Times a Lady,” currently consists of founding members William King (vocals, multiple instruments) and Walter “Clyde” Orange (percussion) and J.D. Nicholas, who succeeded Lionel Richie on vocals in the mid-1980s.
Nominated nine times for a Grammy Award, the Commodores won for their 1985 R&B single “Nightshift,” a tribute to the late singers Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson, who both died in 1984.
The Pointer Sisters went triple-platinum, meaning 3 million units sold, with their 1983 album “Break Out,” featuring the hits “Jump (For My Love),” “I'm So Excited” and “Neutron Dance,” a star of the “Beverly Hills Cop” soundtrack. Other songs include the Billboard No. 2 singles “Slow Hand” and “Fire,” a 1978 release written by Bruce Springsteen.
The current trio consists of charter member Ruth Pointer, who joined her late sisters, Anita, Bonnie and June, shortly after the group’s founding around 1971; daughter Issa Pointer, who joined in 2002; and granddaughter Sadako Pointer, who joined in 2009.
Known for their gospel-infused R&B and dance numbers, the Pointer Sisters have won three Grammy Awards, including for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group, for 1974’s “Fairytale” — making them the first and, to date, only Black female group to win a country-music Grammy. They also are the first Black female group to perform at the Grand Ole Opry.
The Spinners, formed in 1961 from a predecessor group founded in 1954, were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year under the group's classic 1970s lineup. The last founding member, Henry Fambrough, died in February at age 85.
The current quartet of Jessie Peck, Marvin Taylor (both dating to 2008), Ronnie “Raheem” Moss (joined 2013) and C.J. Jefferson (joined 2020) will perform such Spinners hits as the Billboard top-5 singles “The Rubberband Man,” “I'll Be Around” and “Could It Be I'm Falling in Love,” as well as group’s No. 1 hit with Dionne Warwick, “Then Came You.”
