White, the younger brother of the band's founder and principal songwriter Maurice White, joined the group in the mid-1970s and went on to lay the backbone for hits like "September" and "Shining Star."
The Pointer Sisters won three Grammy Awards and had 13 U.S. top 20 hit songs between 1973 and 1985, Anita Pointer's publicist said. The 1983 album "Break Out" went triple platinum.
Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI has died. He was 95. Born Joseph Ratzinger in Bavaria, he oversaw a church in crisis and then became the first pontiff to step down since the 15th century.
This was the year we lost actors Sidney Poitier, Angela Lansbury and Bob Saget, fashion titan André Leon Talley, artists Sam Gilliam and Claes Oldenburg and authors David McCullough and Hilary Mantel.