Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston’s mother, died in her New Jersey home while under hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease. She was 91.
Houston’s daughter-in-law, Pat Houston, confirmed her death in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital on Monday. The musician was surrounded by her family when she died.
“Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness. We [lost] the matriarch of our family,” Pat said in a statement. She noted that her mother-in-law’s contributions to music and culture were “unparalleled.”
She continued, “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.”
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Houston was a member of the Sweet Inspirations, a music group with Doris Troy and her niece, Dee Dee Warrick, as well as Myrna Smith, Sylvia Shemwell and Estelle Brown. The music group provided backup vocals for Otis Redding, Lou Rawls, The Drifters and Dionne Warwick.
Houston last performed with the Sweet Inspirations after taking the stage with Elvis Presley in 1969. The final time Houston recorded with the group was for their song “(Gotta Find) A Brand New Lover,” which went on to be their biggest hit.
As a group, the Sweet Inspirations also performed with the “Queen of Soul,” Aretha Franklin.
After Houston left the group, she pursued a solo career that turned out to be very successful. According to the Associated Press, Houston’s vocals were on tracks alongside several artists, including Chaka Khan, Donny Hathaway, Jimi Hendrix, Luther Vandross, Beyoncé, Paul Simon, Roberta Flack as well as her daughter.
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Houston was a two-time Grammy Award winner. She was honored with her first award for her album “Face to Face” in 1997 and the following year received an award for “He Leadeth Me.”
Houston was also an author and published three books: “He Leadeth Me,” “How Sweet The Sound: My Life with God and Gospel” and “Remembering Whitney: A Mother’s Story of Life, Loss and The Night The Music Stopped.”
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In “Remembering Whitney: A Mother’s Story of Life, Loss and The Night The Music Stopped,” Cissy wrote about her late daughter’s drug addiction and her role in intervening.
According to an excerpt obtained by The Sun via the New York Daily News, Cissy found her daughter living in a “drug den.”
“I flew to Atlanta and rang the door of the house she shared with her husband, Bobby Brown,” Houston wrote. “I knew if she was in half as bad a state as that house, she really was in trouble. I’d never seen any house that looked like this one, much less a multimillion-dollar home.”
She continued, “I stood in shock. It was dirty and messy, but that wasn’t it. The things I saw sent a chill through me. Somebody had spray-painted the walls and door with big glaring eyes and strange faces. Evil eyes, staring out like a threat. Who would do such a thing? It seemed crazy.”
Houston wrote that she fought with Whitney to get help but was able to eventually force her into rehab.
“Eventually she stopped being angry at me and later told people I saved her life. But I’m not sure she ever forgave me. I think some part of her couldn’t stand that I had made her reveal her worst side to me,” Cissy wrote.
Whitney was found dead in the bathtub of a Beverly Hills hotel in 2012. She was 48.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
