We are saddened to report that Grammy-winning singer Cissy Houston, the mother of Whitney Houston and grandmother of Bobbi Kristina Brown, has died. She was 91. Her daughter-in-law, Pat Houston, confirmed the news that the noted singer died at her home in New Jersey on October 7th while under hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease, according to People.
According to The New York Times, Ms. Houston was born Emily Drinkard in Newark on September 30th, 1933. She was the youngest of eight children born to Delia Mae and Nicholas Drinkard. Her father encouraged her to sing. By age five, she sang with her sister Anne and brothers Larry and Nicky in local churches as part of a quartet called the Drinkard Four, later called the Drinkard Singers, who once opened for Mahalia Jackson at Carnegie Hall in 1951. They recorded an album, “A Joyful Noise,” on RCA in 1958. While raised in the AME church, she became the Minister of Sacred Music at New Hope Baptist Church.
After her first marriage ended in divorce, she met and married John Houston, with whom she had three children: Gary, Michael, and Whitney. While many equated Cissy Houston with gospel music in the early 1960s, she was better known for R&B music when she collaborated with her family members, nieces Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick, in the girl group The Sweet Inspirations. According to USA Today, the group provided backup vocals for many artists, including Otis Redding, Dusty Springfield, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
By the 1970s, Houston was a solo artist releasing records ranging from soul-pop to disco before returning to gospel. In 1997, she won a Grammy in the best Traditional Soul gospel category for her Face to Face album, and two years later, she won again for the album “He Leadeth Me.”
Whitney sang backup on her mother’s albums before she began her solo career, and Cissy sang backup on her daughter’s debut album.
The NY Times quotes Baylor professor Robert Darden, who said Ms. Houston was “a significant figure not because she sold a lot of records, but because of the people she influenced who did sell a lot and because of her work as a sustainer and nurturer of the gospel music tradition.”
Ms. Houston was the matriarch of her family, and although she was under hospice care, her family is feeling her loss. Her daughter released the following statement on behalf of the family:
Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness. We lost the matriarch of our family,” Pat said in a statement. Mother Cissy has been a strong and towering figure in our lives. She was 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.”
Pat continued, “Her contributions to popular music and culture are unparalleled. We are blessed and grateful that God allowed her to spend so many years with us, and we are thankful for all the valuable life lessons that she taught us. May she rest in peace alongside her daughter Whitney, granddaughter Bobbi Kristina, and other cherished family members.”
We extend our sincere condolences to the Houston family.
