Soul and Gospel singer Cissy Houston, the mother of Whitney Houston and aunt of Dionne Warwick, has died at the age of 91.
Cissy had been in hospice care for Alzheimer’s.
Cissy Houston was a founding member of the soul group Sweet Inspirations best known for the 1968 hit ‘Sweet Inspiration’ (no 5, USA).
Sweet Inspirations formed in 1963. Cissy formed the group with Doris Troy and her niece Dee Dee Warwick (Dionne’s sister).
Cissy was also a backing singer for Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan and her niece Dionne Warwick. It was just before she gave birth to her daughter Whitney.
Sweet Inspirations were the backing singers on Van Morrison’s ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ and Jimi Hendrix ‘Burning of the Midnight Lamp’. They joined Elvis in 1969 for live performances and can be heard of his ‘Live In Las Vegas’ album.
Cissy is also a backing singer on Paul Simon’s ‘Mother and Child Reunion’, she sang on Bette Midler’s debut album ‘The Divine Miss M’ and Linda Ronstadt’s ‘Heart Like A Wheel’.
Cissy Houston married Freddie Garland in 1955 and had a son, Gary, who became a BNA basketball player. While still married to Freddie Cissy met John Houston Jr. who was also married. They had two children together, Michael (1961) and Whitney (1963). They divorced their spouses in 1964 and married each other the following month. John became the manager of Sweet Inspirations until Cissy left in 1969. They separated in 1977 but stayed married until 1991.
Cissy died at her home in Newark, New Jersey.
Stay updated with your free Noise11.com daily music news email alert. Subscribe to Noise11 Music News here
Be the first to see NOISE11.com’s newest interviews and special features on YOUTUBE and updated regularly. See things first SUBSCRIBE here: Noise11 on YouTube SUBSCRIBE
