Cissy Houston’s Incredible Legacy: Grammy Wins, Famous Family and Heartbreaking Losses

On October 7, 2024, Grammy Award-winning singer Cissy Houston passed away after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. She is best known for her songs “Think It Over” and “Nothing Can Stop Me.” She is also famously known as the mother of actress and singer Whitney Houston and the aunt of Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick. 

Houston’s death was announced by her daughter-in-law Pat Houston, who said in a statement “Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness. We lost the matriarch of our family. Mother Cissy has been a strong and towering figure in our lives. A woman of deep faith and conviction who cared greatly about family, ministry, and community. Her more than seven-decade career in music and entertainment will remain at the forefront of our hearts.”

Continued Pat, “Her contributions to popular music and culture are unparalleled. We are blessed and grateful that God allowed her to spend so many years with us and we are thankful for all the many valuable life lessons that she taught us. May she rest in peace alongside her daughter, Whitney and granddaughter, Bobbi Kristina, and other cherished family members.”

Cissy Houston’s musical legacy

Born in 1933, Houston began her music career in 1938 after forming a band called the Drinkard Four with her sister and two brothers. 

Following that, the singer joined forces with her niece Dee Dee Warick to create Sweet Inspirations in 1963. During that time, the group would provide backing vocals for people like Dusty Springfield and Elvis Presley. 

Also, in the 1960s, Houston released her first solo song, “This Is My Vow,” but sadly, on the original printings, her name was spelled “Sissie” Houston. 

After that mishap, Houston would go on to release several other albums and songs before winning her first Grammy in 1996 for the album Face to Face. She won her second Grammy in 1998 for the album He Leadeth Me.

Cissy Houston’s personal life and family

Over the course of her life, Houston was married twice. First for Freddie Garland from 1955 until 1957 and then to John Russell Houston from 1964 until 1991. She also had three kids: Gary Garland, Michohal Houston and of course Whitney Houston. 

“Cissy had an incredible voice, and that transferred to her little baby, Whitney,” Dione Warwick said. “Whitney came up exactly the way we all did in the church choir. It was just preordained. She was going to sing. Her destiny was, as was the rest of the family. As if God pointed a finger at us and said, ‘Let them vocal cords do what they got to do.'”

“Watching Whitney was like seeing Cissy grow up again. The voice, the dedication. Every little girl that came along after her wanted to be Whitney Houston.”

Cissy Houston’s struggle with Whitney’s death

Whitney would win six Grammys before her tragic death in 2012. She was 48 at the time and reportedly drowned in her bathtub after taking cocaine. 

“She started partying, and she didn’t really know how to stop,” Cissy wrote in her 2013 memoir Remembering Whitney. “I used to wonder what she was doing at night, where she was.” 

Cissy also revealed that she was “Angry she [Whitney] died alone, in those conditions. I’m still mad about that.” but still thought that she was “A great mother, and I still do wonder if I could have saved her somehow. I think, why not? Why wouldn’t I wonder that? I still want her to be here.” 

Whitney’s death has fascinated people for centuries and even served as the storyline for the 2018 documentary Whitney, which claimed that the late singer, along with her brother, were sexually assaulted by their cousin Dee Dee. 

Cissy acknowledged these claims, saying, “We cannot overstate the shock and horror we feel and the difficulty we have believing that my niece Dee Dee Warwick molested two of my three children.” 

Dee Dee’s sister Dionne also responded to the claim, saying, “It’s totally hogwash. My sister would never, ever have done anything to do any harm to any child, especially within our family. And for those lies to be perpetuated in this so-called documentary film, I think it’s evil.”

Dee Dee died in 2008 at age 66.