Cissy Houston, the famous gospel singer and mother of Whitney Houston, died Monday morning at the age of 91, her family said in a statement.
Houston, a two-time Grammy Award-winning singer, died at her home in New Jersey while under hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease, her daughter-in-law, Pat Houston, said.
“Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness. We have lost the matriarch of our family,” she said, adding that her mother-in-law was a “strong and noble figure” in the family’s life.
Houston had a successful singing career that spanned decades, where she performed with superstars like Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin.
Born in New Jersey in 1933, Houston was the youngest of eight children. She began singing at an early age after forming a gospel music group with her siblings.
In the 1960s, she founded the R&B group Sweet Inspirations, a backup singing group for big names like Otis Redding, Dusty Springfield and Dionne Warwick. They also performed Van Morrison’s hit Brown Eyed Girl.
After achieving success with Sweet Inspirations, Houston embarked on a solo career, where she sang with artists including Chaka Khan, Jimi Hendrix, Beyonce, Paul Simon and her late daughter Whitney Houston, who passed away in 2012 at age 48.
Houston won a Grammy for the traditional soul gospel album Face to Face in 1997, and again the following year for the album He Leadeth Me.
She also wrote three books, including a tribute to her daughter, titled Remembering Whitney: A Mother’s Story of Her Life, Loss, and The Night the Music Stopped.
At age 80, Houston once again sang with Aretha Franklin during her performance on The Late Show with David Letterman, where they performed a cover of Adele’s Rolling in the Deep.
Her daughter-in-law, Pat, said that Houston’s “more than seven-decade career in music and entertainment will always be foremost in our hearts.”
She added that the family is “blessed and grateful that God allowed her to be with us for so many years.”
“May she rest in peace surrounded by her daughter Whitney, granddaughter Bobbi Kristina and other beloved family members.”
