Cissy Houston, Mother of Whitney & Gospel Star, Dies at 91

Cissy Houston, a Grammy-winning singer and the mother of deceased superstar Whitney Houston, has died at 91, the Estate of Whitney E. Houston reports. The singer died at her home in New Jersey on Monday, after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Born Emily Drinkard in Newark, New Jersey in 1933, Houston began singing at age five with her siblings in a band called the Drinkard Four (alongside her older sister Lee, who would later give birth to singer Dionne Warwick). Later renamed the Drinkard Singers, they released an album on RCA in 1958, making them one of the first gospel acts to have a major label recording deal.