Cissy Houston, two-time Grammy Award winner and mother of the late Whitney Houston, died Monday at the age of 91.
Her daughter Pat said Houston died at her home in New Jersey, where she was receiving hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease, the newspaper reported. Associated Press. A highly respected gospel singer and talented artist, she passed away surrounded by her family.
“Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness,” Pat said in a statement released to the media. “We lost the patriarch of our family.”
NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 30: Singer Cissy Houston and her daughter singer Whitney Houston attend the 2010 Keep A Child Alive held at Hammerstein Ballroom on September 30, 2010 in New York City. Attended Black Ball. (Photo by Stephen Ravkin/Getty Images)
Houston’s talent is well recognized in the music industry, and her illustrious career included performing with music greats such as Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin.
According to the Associated Press, Pat called her mother’s contributions to music “unparalleled.”
“Mother Cissy was a strong and towering presence in our lives. A woman of deep faith and conviction who cared deeply about family, service, and community. Her 70-plus year career in music and entertainment continues to be… It will continue to be at the forefront of our minds,” she said.
Singer/actress Whitney Houston w. her mother Cissy. (Photo by Robin Platzer/Getty Images)
Houston was part of the Sweet Inspirations with Doris Troy and her niece Dee Dee Warwick, and has backed a variety of soul singers including Otis Redding, Lou Rawls, The Drifters, and Dionne Warwick. Served.
The Sweet Inspirations were featured on Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” and provided background vocals for the Jimi Hendrix Experience on the single “Burning of the Midnight Lamp”. He also sang Franklin’s classic hit “Ain’t No Way.”
Houston left The Sweet Inspirations to pursue a solo career and flourish as an independent artist.
Throughout her career, she recorded over 600 songs in a variety of genres.
NEW YORK – CIRCA 1967: (Clockwise from top) Sylvia Shemwell, Cissy Houston, Myrna Smith and Estelle Brown of the vocal group The Sweet Inspirations pose for a portrait. New York, New York, circa 1967. (Photo by: James Kriegsmann/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Her vocals have been featured on songs by Chaka Khan, Donny Hathaway, Jimi Hendrix, Luther Vandross, Beyoncé, Paul Simon, and Roberta Flack, to name a few.
The talented singer won two Grammy Awards in the Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album category for the albums “Face to Face” in 1997 and “He Leadeth Me” in 1998.
Houston is the author of three books, including “Remembering Whitney: A Mother’s Story of Life, Loss, and the Night the Music Stopped.” (Related: Al Pacino reveals he almost died)
The music industry has come together in grief and shared fond memories of Houston on social media, while honoring her tremendous legacy.
