Introduction: Cissy Houston,

Cissy Houston, the Grammy
Award-winning singer and mother
of Whitney Houston, has died, according
to Gwendolyn Quinn, the executor of
Whitney Houston’s estate. He was 91 years old.

The singer died at 10:30 a.m. ET on
Monday, the statement said. The statement
said he was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
“Our hearts are full of pain and sadness.

We lost the mother of our family,” said daughter-in-law
Pat Houston. “Sissy’s mother was a strong and
powerful presence in our lives. She was a woman of
deep faith and conviction who deeply

valued family, service and community. Your 70 years in
the music and entertainment industry
will continue to be at the forefront of our minds.”

His daughter-in-law added: “His
contributions to music and
popular culture are unparalleled.”

According to a biography
provided by her family, Sissy
Houston was born Emily Drinkard, the
youngest of eight children of the late
Nicholas and Delia Mae Drinkard.

Houston was educated in the Newark public school system and attended

New Hope Baptist Church, where he later became a minister of church music.

According to his biography, Houston began his singing career in 1938 at the age of five when he joined the gospel group Drinkard Four with his sister Anne and brothers Larry and Nicky.

His sisters Leigh and Marie later joined the group and renamed it the Drinkard Singers. Ann Drinkard left the group and was replaced by Lee’s adopted daughter Judy Kelly.

During his lifetime, the band’s members included future stars Dee Dee Warwick and Deon Warwick, Houston’s nieces.

In 1957, they performed at Carnegie Hall and the Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, Rhode Island, and recorded their first live gospel album, A Joyful Noise, at Webster Hall in New York City. The song was released by RCA Records in 1959, making them one of the first gospel groups to release an album on a major record label.

According to her biography, Cissy Houston was the mother of sons Gary and Michael and the grandmother of several grandchildren. Her granddaughter Bobbi Kristina Brown died at the age of 22, three years after her mother Whitney.

“We are blessed and grateful that God allowed us to spend so many years with him and we are grateful for all the valuable life lessons he taught us,” Cissy Houston added in a statement to Pat Houston on Monday. “Rest in peace with daughter Whitney, granddaughter Bobbi Kristina and other loving family members.”