Cissy Houston, a singer known for performing with the biggest names on the American music scene, mother of Whitney Houston, has died. The death of the 91-year-old winner of two Grammy Awards was announced by her daughter-in-law.
“I am sad to announce that my beloved queen Cissy Houston passed away today! Please pray for the Houston family,” Pat Houston, the singer's daughter-in-law, said on Monday in an Instagram post. Gwendolyn Quinn, representative of The Estate of Whitney E. Houston, said in a statement that the singer, suffering from Alzheimer's disease, died surrounded by her family in hospice. She was 91 years old.
Cissy HoustonReuters
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Cissy Houston has performed with legends
Cissy Houston was born in 1933 as Emily Drinkard. She began her musical career in the gospel band Drinkard Four, and was also the founder of the R&B band Sweet Inspirations. She sang backing vocals for artists such as Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, Chaka Khan and Beyoncé. “Her music crossed boundaries of gender and race, and she collaborated with Elvis Presley, Bette Midler and Linda Ronstadt – a rare feat for a black artist at the time,” Reuters reported after her death.
In 1969, she made her debut as a solo artist, releasing the album “Presenting Cissy Houston”. In total, she recorded 10 solo albums and won two Grammy Awards. Cissy Houston also performed with her relatives, including her niece, Dionne Warwick, and her daughter, Whitney Houston, who died in 2012. A year after her daughter's death, she published a book dedicated to her. In an interview for “The View” she later admitted that she wrote it “to make everyone realize that (Whitney Houston – ed.) was not at all what they thought.” – She was good to people and just wonderful. She had her little flaws, just like everyone else, she added in 2013.
Cissy HoustonReuters
Whitney Houston about her mother
In 2009, Whitney Houston gave an interview to Oprah Winfrey in which she admitted that her mother forced her to go to rehab. She obtained a court order, and court-appointed police officers made sure she participated in a program for addicts. – She said: I have no intention of losing you. I won't lose you to Satan… I want my daughter back. She said: Either you do it my way or we will go on TV and say you are retiring,” Houston recalled of the conversation with her mother.
Cissy Houston and Whitney HoustonReuters
Main photo source: Reuters