Cissy Houston, the two-time Grammy Award-winning singer whose angelic voice sang with all of the greats has passed away at the age of 91. Also known as the mother of another great voice, Whitney Houston, Cissy ahs managed to navigate joy and heartache all these years.
Cissy died Monday morning in her New Jersey home while under hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease, her daughter-in-law Pat Houston told The Associated Press. The acclaimed gospel singer was surrounded by her family.
“Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness. We loss the matriarch of our family,” Pat Houston said in a statement. She said her mother-in-law’s contributions to popular music and culture are “unparalleled.”
“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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How Cissy Houston’s Disease Affects Her & Her Community
African Americans are twice as likely as non-Hispanic white Americans to have Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. In fact, African Americans have higher risk of dementia than any other US ethnic racial group.
Despite being at increased risk of dementia, African Americans typically do not seek medical attention when symptoms first appear. This raises the risk of additional health problems because people with dementia often take medications improperly and pay less attention to self-care. It can also delay identification and treatment of conditions that could be reversed with treatment. Even if the diagnosis is Alzheimer’s disease, early detection can give medications and other therapies a chance to slow down disease progression. Early detection also provides opportunities to participate in clinical trials seeking new and better medications, and gives time to prepare for the future.
What Caused Her Disease?
The exact causes of Alzheimer’s disease aren’t fully understood. But at a basic level, brain proteins fail to function as usual. This disrupts the work of brain cells, also called neurons, and triggers a series of events. The neurons become damaged and lose connections to each other. They eventually die.
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Scientists believe that for most people, Alzheimer’s disease is caused by a combination of genetic, lifestyle and environmental factors that affect the brain over time. In less than 1% of cases, Alzheimer’s is caused by specific genetic changes that almost guarantee a person will develop the disease. In these cases, the disease usually begins in middle age.
The development of the disease begins years before the first symptoms. The damage most often starts in the region of the brain that controls memory. The loss of neurons spreads in a somewhat predictable pattern to other regions of the brain. By the late stage of the disease, the brain has shrunk significantly.
Researchers trying to understand the cause of Alzheimer’s disease are focused on the role of two proteins:
Plaques. Beta-amyloid is a fragment of a larger protein. When these fragments clump together, they appear to have a toxic effect on neurons and to disrupt communication between brain cells. These clumps form larger deposits called amyloid plaques, which also include other cellular debris.
Tangles. Tau proteins play a part in a brain cell’s internal support and transport system to carry nutrients and other essential materials. In Alzheimer’s disease, tau proteins change shape and organize into structures called neurofibrillary tangles. The tangles disrupt the transport system and cause damage to cells.
Cissy’s Musical History is More Legendary than You Think
Born Emily Drinkard, Cissy began singing professionally at 5 years old, when her father, Nitcholas Drinkard, formed a gospel group of his children in 1938. Her father went on to die of stomach cancer in March 1952 when Houston was 18. The Drinkard Singers eventually performed at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957, which led to them releasing one of the first major-label gospel albums, A Joyful Noise, on RCA in 1958.
In 1963, she joined another family group, the Sweet Inspirations — replacing her rising-star niece, Dionne Warwick. With a rotating lineup that also starred her niece Dee Dee Warwick, the Sweet Inspirations sang backup for some of the most enduring recordings of the 1960s: Aretha Franklin hits like “Natural Woman” and “Chain of Fools,” Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl,” the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s “Burning of the Midnight Lamp,” and Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man.” Cissy especially stood out for her operatic backing vocals on Franklin’s song “Ain’t No Way.” The Sweet Inspirations began backing Elvis Presley in 1969, featuring on his live album Elvis in Person at the International Hotel.
Cissy left the Sweet Inspirations later in 1969 to pursue a solo career. Singing under the name of Cecily Blair she cut her first secular solo record “This Is My Vow” on M’n’M Records in 1963 following this up in 1966 with “Bring Him Back” b/w “World Of Broken Hearts” on Congress. Her final solo single before recording with The Sweet Inspirations was “Don’t Come Running To Me” b/w “One Broken Heart For Sale” released on Kapp Records in 1967.[18] On these early singles her name is spelled as Sissie Houston. In 1969, Houston signed a recording contract with Commonwealth United Records and recorded her solo debut LP Presenting Cissy Houston which was released in 1970.[17] It contained several well received singles, including covers of “I’ll Be There” and “Be My Baby”, both of which made the R&B charts.[19]
Following the release of her debut album, Houston’s contract was sold to Janus Records in 1970.[19] She recorded another album and several more singles in the early 1970s, which included the original recording of Jim Weatherly’s “Midnight Train to Georgia” in 1972, later a number one hit for Gladys Knight & the Pips.[19][20] She continued to record with Janus Records until 1975.[21] Houston performanced as backing vocalist on jazz flautist Herbie Mann’s funky disco single “Hijack”(1975), album “Discotheque”(1975), and album “Surprise”(1976).[22]
In 1977, Houston was signed by Private Stock Records, working with arranger/producer Michael Zager on three albums. The second included her big disco hit “Think It Over”, which climbed to No. 32 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1979. She represented USA at the World Popular Song Festival in 1979 with a track called “You’re the Fire”, landing second place and winning the “Most Outstanding Performance Award”. This also appeared on her 1980 disco-flavored album, Step Aside for a Lady.
Throughout her career, Cissy had also been a minister at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark. A return to recording gospel music in the 1990s brought her late-career success, as she earned two Grammys for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album. After Whitney’s death in 2012, Cissy honored her daughter with a tribute performance of “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”
