Cissy Houston, Grammy award-winning singer and mother of the late Whitney Houston, has died at 91.

Her daughter-in-law Pat Houston confirmed her passing to the Associated Press Monday. The acclaimed gospel singer died in her New Jersey home while under hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease. Her daughter-in-law reports she was surrounded by her family.

“Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness. We lost the matriarch of our family,” Pat Houston said in a statement. “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 most recognized as “Whitney Houston’s mother,” the world should know Cissy Houston had created a name for herself long before Whitney. Houston, born Emily Drinkard, was the youngest of eight children. She and three siblings formed a gospel group, the Drinkard Singers, in the 1930s that would go on to have a 30-year run and perform on the same bill as Mahalia Jackson among others.

Houston broke into the entertainment industry in the 1960’s as part of the popular background group, The Sweet Inspiration, formed with Doris Troy and Dee Dee Warwick. The group sang with a variety of soul singers including Otis Redding, Lou Rawls, The Drifters, Dionne Warwick, and Elvis Presley.

Her voice could also be heard on Aretha Franklin’s “Think” and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl,” Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man” and Jimi Hendrix’s Burning of the Midnight Lamp.” Not to mention, Chaka Khan, Donny Hathaway, Jimi Hendrix, Luther Vandross, Beyoncé, Paul Simon, Roberta Flack and her daughter, Whitney.

Her final recording session with the group turned into their biggest R&B hit “(Gotta Find) A Brand New Lover.”

After going solo, Houston remained an in-demand singer. Over the course of her career she recorded over 600 songs in multiple genres. Her hit records include “Presenting Cissy Houston,” and the disco-era album “Think It Over.”

Though she lent her talents to secular music for a time, Houston never steered far from her gospel roots. She won Grammys for her albums “Face to Face” in 1997 and “He Leadeth Me” the following year in the best traditional soul gospel album category.

She also presided for decades over the 200-member Youth Inspirational Choir at Newark’s New Hope Baptist Church, where Whitney Houston sang as a child.

Houston authored three books: “He Leadeth Me,” “How Sweet The Sound: My Life with God and Gospel” and “Remembering Whitney: A Mother’s Story of Life, Loss and The Night The Music Stopped.”

Pat Houston said she is thankful for the many valuable lessons learned from her mother-in-law. She said the family feels “blessed and grateful” that God allowed Cissy to spend so many years with them.

“We are touched by your generous support, and your outpouring of love during our profound time of grief,” Pat Houston said on behalf of the family. “We respectfully request our privacy during this difficult time.”

DON’T MISS…

CeCe Winans Reflects On Iconic Friendship With Whitney Houston

Jermaine Dupri Suggests Lack of Youth In Church Impacts Quality of R&B

Members of Gospel Group The Nelons Killed in Plane Crash

The post Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston’s Mother and Grammy-Winning Singer, Dead at 91 appeared first on Elev8.

The post Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston’s Mother and Grammy-Winning Singer, Dead at 91 appeared first on Black America Web.