Cissy Houston, who died this week at the age of 91, was the mother of huge superstar Whitney Houston.
But before Whitney was born, Cissy was a huge star on her own, performing on big stages and hitting the red carpet with the best of them.
Cissy – born in 1933 as Emily Drinkard – was a successful soul and gospel singer in the 1960s and 1970s.
Houston was a founding member of the R&B girl group The Sweet Inspirations, which had a string of hits.
The singer worked with Elvis Presley, Bette Midler and Linda Ronstadt and partied with Aretha Franklin.
She sang backup for Roy Hamilton, Dionne Warwick and Chaka Khan and won two Grammy Awards. And she worked with Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Lou Rawls, The Drifters and Dusty Springfield.
She was also aunt to singers Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick, and a cousin to opera singer Leontyne Price.
Clockwise from bottom left: Myrna Smith, Sylvia Shemwell, Estelle Brown and Cissy Houston of the singing group The Sweet Inspirations pose for a portrait in New York City circa 1967
Elvis Presley performing on stage with his backup singers The Sweet Inspirations in 1973 in Las Vegas
Elvis Presley with a twelve-string guitar in 1955
Here’s a look back at her successes.
Born in New Jersey, she began singing gospel at a young age in the band The Drinkard Four, which was later renamed The Drinkard Singers.
They performed at New Hope Baptist Church and later recorded a live album for RCA called A Joyful Noise, then had shows at Carnegie Hall and the Newport Jazz Festival.
In the early 1960s she formed The Sweet Inspirations with Doris Troy and niece Dee Dee Warwick.
Later, Sylvia Shemwell, Estelle Brown and Myrna Smith, signed to Atlantic Records, formed the line-up.
In the mid-1960s, the Sweet Inspirations provided backing vocals for Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Lou Rawls, The Drifters, Dusty Springfield and Houston’s niece Dionne Warwick.
They appeared on Van Morrison’s single Brown Eyed Girl.
Houston sang the descant to the Aretha Franklin hit Ain’t No Way.
In 1967, The Sweet Inspirations sang background vocals for The Jimi Hendrix Experience on the song Burning of the Midnight Lamp.
Cissy provided vocals for major female artists such as Bette Midler, left, and Linda Ronstadt, right
Aretha Franklin (left) and her backup singers, the Sweet Inspirations, perform at the Soul Together Concert at Madison Square Garden, New York City in 1968
Dionne Warwick, Cissy and Whitney Houston at the 14th Annual American Music Awards on January 26, 1987 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles
The Sweet Inspirations at a reception in London in 1968, promoting their single What The World Needs Now Is Love
In 1969, they were hired to sing background vocals for American singer Elvis Presley in Las Vegas on his return to live performances in July and August 1969.
They can be heard on the live albums All Shook Up and Live In Las Vegas.
Cissy had a flourishing solo career, including the hits I’ll Be There and Be My Baby.
She also worked with Dusty Springfield
In the 1970s she had more hits with Midnight Train to Georgia in 1972.
In 1971, Houston was featured on three songs from Burt Bacharach’s self-titled solo album: Mexican Divorce, All Kinds of People and One Less Bell to Answer.
She was the backing singer on the funky disco single Hijack (1975), the album Discotheque (1975) and the album Surprise (1976) by jazz flutist Herbie Mann.
She then had a big disco hit with Think It Over. Then came You are the Fire.
The singer then collaborated with two huge singers.
Houston sang backup on Bette Midler’s 1972 debut album, The Divine Miss M. In 1974, Houston sang backup on Linda Ronstadt‘s heart like a wheel.
She also collaborated with jazz flutist Herbie Mann.
Whitney Houston, her daughter and backing singer, increasingly sang solos with Cissy’s band. They would collaborate on Ain’t No Way (originally a Cissy Houston and Aretha Franklin vehicle), on which Cissy sang Cissy and Whitney sang Aretha.
She contributed one song to the gospel soundtrack album for the film The Preacher’s Wife, starring her daughter Whitney.
Houston and her daughter Whitney recorded a duet in 1989 entitled I Know Him So Well.
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In 2006, Houston recorded the song Family First with niece Dionne Warwick and daughter Whitney for the soundtrack of the film Daddy’s Little Girls.
In 2012, Cissy performed Bridge over Troubled Water in honor of her daughter at the BET Music Awards.
On Letterman in 2014, Cissy sang backup with Aretha Franklin on Adele’s Rolling in the Deep and Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.
In 2012 Whitney died at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.
Cissy died on October 7, 2024 at the age of 91 at her home in Newark.
