Grammy-winning singer and the mother of the late Whitney Houston, Cissy Houston, died on Monday at the age of 91.
Cissy Houston, who was under hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease at her home in New Jersey, died Monday morning surrounded by her family, the gospel singer’s daughter-in-law, Pat Houston, told Associated Press.
“Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness. We loss the matriarch of our family,” Pat said, adding that her mother-in-law’s contributions to popular music and culture are “unparalleled.”
“Mother Cissy has been a strong and towering figure in our lives,” Pat said. “A woman of deep faith and conviction, who cared greatly about family, ministry, and community. Her more than seven-decade career in music and entertainment will remain at the forefront of our hearts.”
Cissy Houston was a two-time Grammy winner for her albums, “Face to Face” in 1997 and “He Leadeth Me” in 1998.
In her earlier years, she was a member of the popular vocal group, the Sweet Inspirations, alongside the late Doris Troy and her late niece Dee Dee Warwick.
The Sweet Inspirations sang backup vocals for several of soul artists, including Otis Redding, Lou Rawls, The Drifters, and Dionne Warwick.
They were also featured on Van Morrison’s 1967 hit song, “Brown Eyed Girl,” and sang background vocals for The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s 1967 song, “Burning of the Midnight Lamp.”
Cissy Houston also worked with big names like Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin. In 1969, she performed onstage with Presley in Las Vegas, and also worked with Franklin on her 1968 hit, “Ain’t No Way.”
The gospel singer later embarked on a solo career after leaving The Sweet Inspirations, and went on to become “an in-demand session singer and recorded more than 600 songs in multiple genres throughout her career,” Associated Press reported.
Cissy Houston is also the author of three books, “He Leadeth Me,” “How Sweet The Sound: My Life with God and Gospel,” and “Remembering Whitney: A Mother’s Story of Life, Loss and The Night The Music Stopped.”
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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