LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cissy Houston, the mom of the late Whitney Houston and a two-time Grammy winner who carried out alongside celebrity musicians like Elvis Presley, and Aretha Franklin, has died. She was 91.
Houston died Monday morning in her New Jersey dwelling whereas underneath hospice look after Alzheimer’s illness, her daughter-in-law Pat Houston instructed The Related Press. The acclaimed gospel singer was surrounded by her household.
“Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness. We loss the matriarch of our family,” Pat Houston mentioned in a press release. She mentioned her mother-in-law’s contributions to in style music and tradition are “unparalleled.”
“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.”
Houston was within the well-known vocal group, the Candy Inspirations, with Doris Troy and her niece Dee Dee Warrick. The group sang backup for a wide range of soul singers together with Otis Redding, Lou Rawls, The Drifters and Dionne Warwick.
The Candy Inspirations appeared on Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” and sang background vocals for The Jimi Hendrix Expertise on the tune “Burning of the Midnight Lamp” in 1967. In the identical 12 months, Houston labored on Franklin’s basic “Ain’t No Way.”
Houston’s final efficiency with the Candy Inspirations got here after the group hit the stage with Presley in a Las Vegas present in 1969. Her closing recording session with the group became their greatest R&B hit “(Gotta Find) A Brand New Lover” a composition by the manufacturing crew of Gamble & Huff, who appeared on the group’s fifth album, “Sweet Sweet Soul.”
Throughout that point, the group sometimes carried out stay live performance dates with Franklin. After the group’s success and 4 albums collectively, Houston left The Candy Inspirations to pursue a solo profession the place she flourished.
Houston turned an in-demand session singer and recorded greater than 600 songs in a number of genres all through her profession. Her vocals can heard on tracks alongside a variety of artists together with Chaka Khan, Donny Hathaway, Jimi Hendrix, Luther Vandross, Beyoncé, Paul Simon, Roberta Flack and her daughter.
In 1971, Houston’s signature vocals have been featured on Burt Bacharach’s solo album, which incorporates “Mexican Divorce,” “All Kinds of People” and “One Less Bell to Answer.” She carried out numerous requirements together with Barbra Streisand’s hit tune, “Evergreen.”
Houston gained Grammys for her albums “Face to Face” in 1997 and “He Leadeth Me” the next 12 months in the most effective conventional soul gospel album class.
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.”
In 1938, Cissy Houston began her profession when she joined her sister Anne and brothers Larry and Nicky to kind the gospel group, The Drinkard 4, who recorded one album. She attended New Hope Baptist Church, the place she later change into Minister of Sacred Music.
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Houston was the youngest of eight kids.
“We are touched by your generous support, and your outpouring of love during our profound time of grief,” Houston mentioned on behalf of the household. “We respectfully request our privacy during this difficult time.”
