Cissy Houston, the mother of the late soul singer Whitney Houston, passed away at the age of 91.
She died on Monday morning at her home in New Jersey while receiving hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease, according to her daughter-in-law, Pat Houston.
Cissy Houston was a renowned gospel singer and a two-time Grammy Award winner. She gained fame in the 1960s and 1970s as a session singer, providing backup vocals for numerous hit records by iconic artists, including Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, Dionne Warwick (her niece), and Wilson Pickett.
Her distinctive soprano voice and ability to sing across various genres, made her one of the most sought-after backing vocalists in the music industry.
In 1977, Cissy launched her solo career, releasing several albums that showcased her versatility, such as ‘Think It Over’ (1978), which earned her a Grammy nomination.
Cissy played a crucial role in nurturing her daughter Whitney’s talent from a young age, offering guidance and support throughout her rise to fame as one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
Cissy’s life was marked by personal tragedies. On February 11, 2012, her daughter Whitney was found dead in a Beverly Hills hotel bathtub. The cause of death was ruled as accidental drowning.
This devastating loss deeply affected Cissy, who later wrote about her daughter in her memoir, Remembering Whitney: A Mother’s Story of Life, Loss and The Night the Music Stopped.
In 2015, Cissy faced further heartbreak when her granddaughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, the only child of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, was discovered unconscious in a bathtub. After spending months in a coma, she died at the young age of 22.
These events brought the Houston family into the spotlight again, particularly in 2018 when the documentary ‘Whitney’ was released, featuring allegations that Dee Dee Warwick (who passed away in 2008) had molested Whitney when she was a child.
Despite the profound loss and pain Cissy experienced, she remained a strong matriarch for her family. Pat Houston described her as a “strong and towering figure” whose influence shaped the lives of those around her.
