Cissy Houston, a two-time Grammy-winning soul and gospel artist who shared the stage with icons like Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley, and whose life was marked by both triumph and tragedy as the mother of Whitney Houston, has passed away at the age of 91.
Cissy Houston died on Monday morning in her New Jersey home, where she was under hospice care for Alzheimer's disease, according to her daughter-in-law, Pat Houston. "Our hearts are heavy with sorrow. We have lost the matriarch of our family," Pat Houston stated. She praised her mother-in-law's unparalleled contributions to popular music and culture.
"Mother Cissy was a towering figure in our lives, a woman of profound faith and conviction who deeply cared about her family, ministry, and community. Her over seven-decade career in music and entertainment will always be cherished in our hearts."
From an early age, Houston (born Emily Drinkard) was a church performer and later became a member of the renowned backing group The Sweet Inspirations in the 1960s, alongside Doris Troy and her niece Dee Dee Warwick. The group provided backup vocals for numerous soul singers, including Otis Redding, Lou Rawls, The Drifters, and Dionne Warwick. Houston's extensive credits include iconic tracks such as Franklin’s 'Think' and '(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman', Van Morrison’s 'Brown Eyed Girl', and Dusty Springfield’s 'Son of a Preacher Man'.
The Sweet Inspirations also performed on stage with Presley, whom Houston fondly recalled for his gospel singing during breaks and for nicknaming her "Squirrelly." The group achieved their own top 20 hit with the soul-rock 'Sweet Inspiration' and released four albums in the late ’60s. They also contributed to Van Morrison’s 'Brown Eyed Girl' and The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s 'Burning of the Midnight Lamp'.
Houston's final performance with The Sweet Inspirations was in a 1969 Las Vegas show with Presley. Her last recording session with the group resulted in their biggest R&B hit, '(Gotta Find) A Brand New Lover', produced by Gamble & Huff.
After leaving The Sweet Inspirations, Houston embarked on a successful solo career, becoming a sought-after session singer and recording over 600 songs across various genres. Her vocals can be heard on tracks with a diverse array of artists, including Chaka Khan, Donny Hathaway, Jimi Hendrix, Luther Vandross, Beyoncé, Paul Simon, Roberta Flack, and Whitney Houston.
Houston released several solo albums, including 'Presenting Cissy Houston', the disco-era 'Think It Over', and the Grammy-winning gospel albums 'Face to Face' and 'He Leadeth Me'. In 1971, her distinctive vocals were featured on Burt Bacharach’s solo album, which includes 'Mexican Divorce', 'All Kinds of People', and 'One Less Bell to Answer'.
Despite her reservations about show business, Houston and her daughter Whitney were deeply connected through music, from church performances to television and film. Whitney’s rise to fame seemed inevitable, given her family's musical legacy, which included cousins Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick, and close friend Aretha Franklin.
The mother-daughter duo shared the stage often, including memorable performances on The Merv Griffin Show and in the 1996 film The Preacher’s Wife. Their most poignant moment together was captured in the video for Whitney’s hit 'Greatest Love of All', where a triumphant Whitney exits the stage of Harlem’s Apollo Theater and embraces Cissy in the wings.
However, Whitney’s life was marred by drug problems that ultimately led to her death in 2012. Cissy Houston blamed Whitney’s husband, Bobby Brown, for her daughter’s drug addiction, as detailed in her 2013 memoir 'Remembering Whitney'. Brown, while acknowledging his own drug issues, dismissed his in-laws' concerns in a 2016 interview.
In 2015, Cissy Houston faced further heartache when her granddaughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, the only child of Whitney and Bobby Brown, was found unconscious in a bathtub and later died at the age of 22.
Cissy Houston was briefly married to Freddie Garland in the 1950s and later to Whitney’s father, entertainment executive John Russell Houston, from 1959 to 1990.
