Cissy Houston dead: Whitney Houston’s mother dies at 91 as her family pays tribute to her | Celebrity News | Showbiz and television

Cissy Houston, well-known gospel singer and mother of the late superstar Whitney Houston, has died at the age of 91.

A Grammy-winning artist whose career dates back to the 1930s, Cissy was surrounded by her loved ones at the moments of her death. The family released a statement Monday confirming her death.

In an emotional tribute, Pat Houston, Cissy’s daughter-in-law, told the Associated Press: “Our hearts are full of pain and sadness. We are losing the matriarch of our family. Mother Cissy was a strong and towering figure in our family.” “A woman of deep faith and conviction who valued family, service and community.”

Pat Houston also said, “We are touched by your generous support and love in our deep time of grief. We respectfully request our privacy during this difficult time.”

According to AP reports, Cissy Houston died Monday morning at her home in New Jersey, where she was receiving hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease. Born on September 30, 1933, Cissy was the youngest of eight children, reports the Mirror.

Her marriage to Freddie Garland in 1955 produced a son, Gary Garland, born in October 1957, who made a name for himself as an NBA basketball player and member of the DePaul University Athletic Hall of Fame. Cissy and Freddie later divorced in 1957.

In 1964, she married John Houston Jr. and they had a daughter named Whitney, who tragically died in 2012 at the age of 48.

The couple divorced in 1991. They also had a son named Michael, who is now a songwriter and road manager.

Cissy’s journey into music began in 1938 when she was still a child. She sang with her sister Anne and brothers Larry and Nicky as part of the gospel group Drinkard Four.

The group later expanded to include four more women and was renamed the Drinkard Sisters.

When Cissy was pregnant with Whitney in 1963, she formed the group Sweet Inspirations with Doris Troy and her niece Dee Dee Warrick. They provided backup vocals for artists such as Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Dusty Springfield.

She released solo music from the late 1960s until 2012 – the same year Whitney died as a result of an accidental drowning in a Beverly Hills hotel, with heart disease and cocaine use listed as possible causes.

In her 2013 book, Remembering Whitney, the heartbroken mother expressed her sadness over her daughter’s death. She wrote: “I am angry that she died alone in these conditions. I’m still angry about that.”

She told People magazine that she hoped the book would remind fans “what a good person she was. I want people to know the truth about her as she really was.”

Cissy won Grammys for her albums Face to Face in 1997 and He Leadeth Me in 1998, both in the Best Traditional Soul-Gospel Album category. In addition to Remembering Whitney: A Mother’s Story of Life, Loss and The Night The Music Stopped, she also wrote He Leadeth Me and How Sweet The Sound: My Life with God and Gospel.