Whitney Houston’s mom Cissy dead at age 91 after health battle as tributes pour in for Grammy-winning gospel star
WHITNEY Houston’s mom has died after battling an illness, her heartbroken family has confirmed.
Cissy Houston, who had a Grammy-winning singing career of her own, died at 91 years old.
Cissy was surrounded by family in her New Jersey home when she died on Monday, according to the report first shared by The Associated Press.
Her cause of death was not immediately released, but she had been in hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease.
“Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness,” Pat Houston, Cissy’s daughter-in-law, said in a statement.
“We lost 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.”
Though she’s most known for being Whitney’s mom, Cissy developed fame of her own by singing backup for artists like Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley.
The youngest of eight children, Cissy was born Emily Drinkard in Newark, New Jersey on September 30, 1933.
She sang with the vocal group the Sweet Inspirations, who sang backup for soul legends including Otis Redding, Dionne Warwick, and The Drifters.
The group was formed in 1963, just as Cissy was about to give birth to her daughter Whitney.
They also appeared on Van Morrison’s hit Brown Eyed Girl, and sang background vocals on The Jimi Hendrix Experiences’s Burning of the Midnight Lamp, both in 1967.
Houston last sang with the Sweet Inspirations at an Elvis Presley show in Las Vegas in 1969.
She left the group after four albums together and pursued a solo career, recording more than 600 songs in multiple genres.
Among the artists she sang for included Chaka Khan, Luther Vandross, Beyonce, Paul Simon, and Roberta Flack.
She also sang with her own daughter.
TRIBUTES PAID
Tributes have poured in for Cissy after a decades-long career working with some of the biggest names in music.
“RIP Cissy Houston. She did more than give birth to one of the greatest vocalists. Ms. Cissy/the Sweet Inspirations sang backup on CLASSICS. Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Lou Rawls, Van Morrison, Dusty Springfield, Elvis, Chaka Khan…That’s Cissy on Aretha’s Ain’t No Way! Unsung,” wrote one user on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“Dang, Cissy Houston passed! I hope she is at peace and Whitney, Bobbi Kristina, and other family have greeted her. What a vessel! What a talent!” wrote a second user.
“A voice that transcended time, a legend, and the mother of one of music’s most iconic voices, Whitney Houston. Rest in paradise, Cissy Houston. Thank you for gracing this world with your strength and grace, you will always be remembered,” said a third.
“Cissy’s had her flaws, but the reality is we wouldn’t have Whitney’s talent without her. Outside of her just being her mother —she physically taught Whitney how to sing, and how to go about being a professional,” said another.
PROTECTIVE MOM
In the late 1990s, when Whitney was in the grips of drug addiction, Cissy staged several interventions to get her daughter into rehab programs.
She wrote in her 2013 book Remembering Whitney: My Story of Love, Loss, and the Night the Music Stopped, about going over to the house Whitney shared with her then-husband Bobby Brown.
Finding the walls and doors painted with disturbing drawings of glaring eyes and strange faces, Cissy left and returned with law enforcement to perform an intervention.
Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness. We lost the matriarch of our family.
Houston family statement
Cissy spoke out about certain media coverage after her daughter’s death on February 11, 2012.
“The media are awful,” she told New Jersey-based Fox affiliate WWOR.
“People have come from here and there, and don’t know what they’re talking about. People I haven’t seen in 20 years.
“Here they come, think they know everything, but that’s not true.
“But God has his way of taking care of all of it, and I’m glad I know that.
“They really chopped on her, chopped on her… kept, kept, kept.”
WHITNEY HOUSTON'S MOTHER DIES
CISSY Houston, the mother of legendary singer Whitney, has died at the age of 91. Her family put out the following statement:
“Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness. We lost 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. 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 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.
“On behalf of The Houston Family, we are touched by your generous support, and your outpouring of love during our profound time of grief.
“We respectfully request our privacy during this difficult time.”
In the wake of her book’s release, Cissy gave an interview to Oprah Winfrey where she talked about her daughter’s struggles with drugs and the rumors about her sexuality.
The interview included a number of revelations, such as the fact that Whitney’s brother Michael had introduced the troubled singer to crack cocaine and not her husband Bobby Brown.
Cissy also described being “a wreck” when she learned of her daughter’s death and said she was alone when she found out.
The devastated mother also revealed she only learned the extent of Bobby’s “emotional abuse” of her daughter when Whitney appeared on Oprah’s show in 2009.
In the interview, Whitney said her husband once spat on her while their daughter watched.
Cissy said finding that out “hurt me to my heart… She never told me any of those things.”
Whitney’s mother also addressed rumors that her daughter was in a relationship with her female best friend, which she adamantly denied.
Asked if the women were romantically involved, Cissy said, “I don’t really know,” and added that she “absolutely” would have objected if her daughter was gay.