Singer Cissy Houston, Grammy winner and mother of Whitney Houston, has died at the age of 91

Singer Cissy Houston, a legend of gospel music and founder of a family of global stars, has died.

Houston, 91, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, died Monday while receiving home hospice care, Pat Houston, her daughter-in-law, told The Associated Press.

“I am deeply saddened to announce the passing of my beloved Queen Cissy Houston today!” she said in a post on Instagram. “Please keep the Houston family in your prayers.”

Cissy Houston's daughter Whitney Houston, who rose to fame in the '80s, became a global superstar under the name “The Voice” and her niece Dionne Warwick became a pop sensation starting in the '60s.

“Mother Cissy was a strong and prominent figure in our lives,” Pat Houston said in a statement. “A woman of deep faith and conviction who cared deeply about family, service and community. Her career spanning more than seven decades in the music and entertainment industry will continue to be close to our hearts.”

Houston, née Emily Drinkard, grew up in a Newark family of singers.

Her father, Nitcholas “Nitch” Drinkard, was a tenor singer. She began her career as a young child, performing with her sister and brothers as The Drinkard Four, a gospel group that later, with the addition of other family members, became The Drinkard Singers.

Houston, the youngest of eight children, sang in the group with her sisters Lee Warrick (Dionne's mother), Anne Moss and Marie Epps, and her brothers Larry and Nickolas Drinkard.

Her cousin is the opera singer Leontyne Price, 97.

The Drinkards' home was New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, where Houston later became choir director and music minister.

The Drinkard Singers released the album “A Joyful Noise” in 1958.

Later, as a member of the group The Sweet Inspirations along with her niece Dee Dee Warrick, Houston sang backup for The Drifters, Dionne Warwick and Otis Redding. The Sweet Inspirations also sang live with Elvis Presley.

Houston can be heard on songs such as “Brown Eyed Girl” (1967) by Van Morrison, “Burning of the Midnight Lamp” (1967) by Jimi Hendrix and “Ain't No Way” (1968) by Aretha Franklin.

Houston, who was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2020, has a long list of credits including backing vocals for, among others, Bette Midler, Paul Simon, Roberta Flack, David Bowie, Chaka Khan, Linda Ronstadt, Diana Ross, Luther Vandross and Beyoncé sang other artists.

The Sweet Inspirations released four albums, after which Houston became a solo artist and released ten albums from 1970 to 2012, as well as collaborative albums with Herbie Mann, Chuck Jackson and Burt Bacharach.

Houston won the Grammy for best traditional soul-gospel album twice – in 1996 for “Face to Face” and in 1998 for “He Leadeth Me.” She was a pillar of the Newark Gospel Festival.

Houston's son with her first husband Freddie Garland (they divorced in 1964), Gary Garland – later known as Gary Houston – was born in 1957 and later played in the NBA.

Her son with her second husband John Houston Jr. (they separated in 1977), Michael Houston, was born in 1961. Their daughter Whitney Houston was born in 1963.

Whitney began singing as a backup singer for her mother's shows in clubs in New York.

When 19-year-old Houston made her television debut on “The Merv Griffin Show” in 1983, she sang Franklin's “Ain't No Way” (written by Carolyn Franklin) and Sam Cooke's “You Send Me” with Cissy.

After her daughter's death in 2012 at age 48, Cissy Houston wrote the book Remembering Whitney: My Story of Love, Loss, and the Night the Music Stop, published in 2013.

Houston leaves behind a family including her sons Gary, 66 (husband of Pat) and Michael, 63, and her niece, Dionne Warwick, 83.