Cissy Houston Dead At 91

Cissy Houston, a two-time Grammy Award-winning singer and the mother of pop icon Whitney Houston, has died.

She was 91.

Whitney Houston and her mother, soul singer Cissy Houston appear during a taping of an MTV holiday show on December 9, 1986 in New York City, New York.  Source: L. Busacca / Getty

“Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness,” Houston’s daughter-in-law said in a statement issued on Oct. 7. “We loss the matriarch of our family. Mother Cissy has been a strong and towering figure in our lives. 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.”

The singer, who made a name for herself singing alongside the likes of Chuck Jackson, Elvis Presley, her niece Dionne Warwick and her daughter Whitney, was surrounded by friends and family when she passed Monday at her home in New Jersey while under hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease.

Dionne Warwick, Cissy Houston and Whitney Houston at the 14th Annual American Music Awards on January 26, 1987 at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. Source: MediaPunch / Getty

“Her contributions to popular music and culture are unparalleled,” the statement continued. “We are blessed and grateful that God allowed her to spend so many years with us and we are thankful for all the many valuable life lessons that she taught us. May she rest in peace, alongside her daughter, Whitney and granddaughter Bobbi Kristina and other cherished family members.”

“We are touched by your generous support, and your outpouring of love during our profound time of grief,” the statement, concluded the statement. “We respectfully request our privacy during this difficult time.”

Singers Whitney Houston and her mother, Cissy Houston, with cousin, singer Dionne Warwick during a Grammy Award related party on February 24, 1987. Source: L. Busacca / Getty

Born Emily Drinkard on Sept. 30, 1933, in Newark, New Jersey, Houston found her voice early as the youngest of eight children. At just 5 years old she founded the group the Drinkard Four alongside her sister Anne and her two brothers Nicky and Larry in 1938, starting her longtime love affair with music.

In 1963, Houston formed the R&B girl group Sweet Inspirations. The quartet, which originally included Doris Troy and her niece Dee Dee Warwick. The group quickly became successful in providing background vocals for artists such as Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, Otis Redding, Lou Rawls, The Drifters, and Dionne Warwick. In 1967, the group provided background support on The Jimi Hendrix Experience track “Burning of the Midnight Lamp.”

Shortly after, Houston provided her talents on Franklin’s 1968 classic “Ain’t No Way.”

Just before Houston released her first solo album, Presenting Cissy Houston, in 1970, the singer performed one last time with the Sweet Inspirations with Presley in a Las Vegas show during one of his many residencies.

As a soloist, she made her mark in the music industry with the hits “I’ll Be There” and “Be My Baby.” In the 90s while her daughter was becoming a household name, Houston garnered two Grammy Awards for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album in 1997 for Face to Face and in 1999 for He Leadeth Me.

Houston was also a successful author, penning three books: He Leadeth Me (1997), How Sweet The Sound: My Life with God and Gospel (1998) and Remembering Whitney: A Mother’s Story of Life, Loss and The Night The Music Stopped (2013).

Cissy Houston and Bobbi Kristina Brown attend “The Houstons: On Our Own” series premiere party on October 22, 2012 in New York City. Source: Shareif Ziyadat / Getty.

Houston’s death comes nine years after her granddaughter Bobbi Kristina Brown’s death in 2015 and 12 years after her daughter Whitney’s death. The icon, whom passed on Feb. 12, 2012, was found submerged in the bathtub at the Beverly Hilton hours before she was set to appear at Clive Davis’ annual Pre-Grammy gala. Though her death was ruled an accidental drowning, cocaine was found in her system.

One year after her daughter’s untimely death, Houston spoke with Brenda Blackmon for the New Jersey-based My9 television network, expressing that she was at peace.

“I know I did the best I could,” Cissy said in 2012. “I don’t blame myself. I know I did the best I could for everything.”

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