Cissy Houston
Cissy Houston ( born September 30, 1933 as Emily Drinkard in Newark, New Jersey) is an American gospel and soul singer. She is the mother of Whitney Houston and aunt of Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee.
Career
Cissy Houston began singing in church as a young girl. She was at a young age also a member of the gospel group The Drinkard Singers, which consisted of family members. Between 1967 and 1969 she was a member of the girl group Sweet Inspirations, with which it hits like Let It Be Me Why ( Am I Treated So Bad, 1967), Sweet Inspiration, To Love Somebody Unchained Melody (1968) and Crying in the Rain ( 1969) had. The Sweet Inspirations were sought-after backing singers for Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, George Benson or Dusty Springfield. After Houston launched a moderately successful solo career in which she landed minor hits such as Be My Baby (1971).
In the late 1970s there appeared a whole series of plates, which are attributable to the disco genre, and were mainly produced by Michael Zager. After several quiet years, it took in 1987 with her daughter duet I Know Him So Well for their album Whitney on. The ballad was released as a single, among others in Germany and the Netherlands, and placed there in the charts (No. 46 and 16).
In 1996, her daughter Whitney Houston in addition to a small role in the movie The Preacher's Wife. A year later, she was also awarded the Grammy for gospel album Face to Face, and the successor work He leadeth Me received this award. Published in 1998 her autobiography How Sweet the Sound: My Life with God and Gospel. Whitney had to written the foreword.
Private
Gary Garland is the son from her marriage in 1954 closed with Freddie Garland. In 1959 she married John Russell Houston ( 1920-2003 ), with whom she has two children: Michael and Whitney ( 1963-2012 ).