‘Together again’: Whitney Houston’s mother Cissy Houston’s cause of death, confirmed

Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston’s mother, has died surrounded by family in her New Jersey home at the age of 91, Pat Houston, Cissy’s daughter-in-law, told the Associated Press. The gospel singer and author had been in hospice care for Alzheimer’s, Pat confirmed.

In addition to being Whitney Houston‘s mother, Cissy, a two-time Grammy winner, enjoyed a rich and successful music career, performing alongside Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin. She began singing with the Sweet Inspirations, who backed up R&B legends like Otis Redding and Lou Rawls. In the late `60s and `70s, Cissy became an in-demand session singer who recorded music with Burt Bacharach, Chaka Khan, and later Beyoncé, among many others.

In 1997, Cissy performed “I Know Him So Well” alongside her daughter, Whitney. She also sang backup on Whitney’s hits, “How Will I Know” and “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.” Singers Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick were Cissy’s nieces, and she was also opera singer Leontyne Price’s cousin.“Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness. We lost the matriarch of our family,” Cissy’s daughter-in-law, Pat, said in a statement referring to Cissy’s death.

Whitney and Bobbi Kristina Brown’s death

Cissy Houston endured two major tragedies in her life when, in 2012, Whitney Houston, who lived with addiction issues, was found dead in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton, and three years later, her grandaughter, Whitney’s daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, was found unresponsive in a bathtub, and died six months later.

When she heard the news about Whitney, Cissy asked, “Is she dead?’,” she later told Oprah Winfrey. And her son responded, “‘Yeah, Mommy, she’s dead.’ And I don’t remember too much else after that …I was a wreck. I was just a wreck,” Cissy said.

Referring to her granddaughter, she added, “Of course I worry about her. Bobbi Kristina is 19, and if you know anything about a 19-year-old, they think they know it all. It doesn’t mean that she is going to follow her [Whitney’s] same path. She could, but anybody could. I don’t want to jinx her. I’m trying to make sure she doesn’t,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

Cissy’s Grammy wins came relatively late in life

Tragedy aside, Cissy Houston had been a recording artist for decades at the time of her first Grammy in 1997 for her traditional gospel album, Face to Face, and the next year for He Leadeth Me, which won in the same category. Cissy also wrote three books, including Remembering Whitney: A Mother’s Story of Life, Loss and The Night The Music Stopped.

On that later-in-life success, Cissy told Jet magazine in 1998, “A lot of the things I’ve done have come late in life, and it’s like a whole new career starting up. I don’t have regrets about the way I planned and lived my life, and I am very proud of what I’ve become.”

Cissy is survived by her sons Gary Garland and Michael Houston, and scores of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Whitney Houston’s father, John Russell Houston Jr., died in 2003. John and Cissy divorced in 1991.

As news of Cissy’s death spread, fans shared their grief on social media, including footage of Whitney and Cissy performing together in 1997. “Cissy Houston’s legacy in gospel music is monumental. A remarkable artist and loving mother. Her memory will always be cherished. 🕊️✨” one comment said. “May Cissy rest in eternal peace,” another added.