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Cissy Houston (born Emily Drinkard on January 1,
1933) is a gospel music|gospel and soul music|soul
singer. She led a successful career as a backup
singer for such artists as Elvis Presley, Mahalia
Jackson, and Aretha Franklin, and is now primarily
a solo artist. She is the mother of singer and
actress Whitney Houston.

Born in Newark, New Jersey|Newark, New Jersey,
Houston was the youngest of eight children of
parents Nitch and Delia Drinkard. When Houston was
5 years old her mother, Delia, suffered a stroke
and died of cerebral hemorrhage three years later.
Her father, Nitch, later died of stomach cancer
when Houston was 18.

As a child, Houston joined her sister Anne and
brothers Larry and Nicky in the gospel singing
group, the Drinkard Four. Houston's sister, Lee
(who would later become the mother of singers Dee
Dee Warwick|Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick), later
joined the group along with Ann Moss and Marie
Epps, and the group was renamed the Drinkard
Singers. Houston and the Drinkard Singers
regularly performed at New Hope Baptist Church and
later recorded a live album for RCA called A
Joyful Noise.

Shortly after her father's death, Houston married
her first husband at the age of 21. The two were
divorced two years later while Houston was
pregnant with her first son, Gary. Still pregnant,
Houston met United States Army|Army serviceman
John Houston, and the two were married in 1959.

In 1963, then pregnant with daughter Whitney
Houston, she formed the Sweet Inspirations with
Doris Troy and niece Dee Dee Warwick. Throughout
the mid-1960s, the group provided backup vocals
for several artists, including Aretha Franklin
(most notably for "Natural Woman"), and Van
Morrison (for "Brown Eyed Girl"). The group also
sang backup for Elvis Presley in a series of Las
Vegas concerts during the 1960s.

Houston left the Sweet Inspirations in 1969 to
pursue a solo career. She was signed by
Commonwealth United and recorded a well-received
album in 1970 and several hit singles shortly
thereafter, including "I'll Be There" and "Be My
Baby". After her contract was sold to Janus
Records in the early 1970s, Houston recorded
several more singles in the mid-1970s, and still
more under the Private Stock label years later.

In 1987, Houston and her daughter Whitney recorded
a duet titled "I Know Him So Well". She later
received the 1996 Grammy Award for Grammy Award
for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album|Best
Traditional Soul Gospel Album for Face to Face and
won the award again in 1998 for her album He
Leadeth Me.

== External links ==
*
http://www.classicwhitney.com/interview/peopleweek
ly_cissyhouston_aug1998.htm An interview with
Cissy Houston
*
http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Cissy%20Houston:192704
9603:page=biography Cissy Houston biography, from
Yahoo!