Editing Cissy Houston (section)

==Career==
===The Drinkard Singers===
{{main|The Drinkard Singers}}
Houston first began singing in the sibling jubilee quartet, the Drinkard Four, at the age of five. A little while later, they changed the name to the Drinkard Jubilairs and then, after the inclusions of sisters Lee and Marie ("Reebie"), the Drinkard Singers. Houston contended in her 2013 book, ''Remembering Whitney: A Mother's Story of Love, Loss and the Night the Music Died'', that the group didn't sing professionally until [[radio announcer]] Joe Bostic hired them to open for [[Clara Ward]] and [[Mahalia Jackson]] at the first ever gospel showcase, named the "Negro Gospel and Religious Music Festival" at [[Carnegie Hall]] in October 1951. Not long after that, the group sang on Bostic's ''Gospel Train'' New York radio show, becoming regulars on the program. 

In two October dates in 1954 and 1957, the group, which now included Houston's adopted niece Judy, joined Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Mahalia Jackson as one of several gospel acts to perform at the [[Newport Jazz Festival]], leading to appearances on two live albums recorded at the festival in those years. Shortly after their second Newport performance, they landed a recording deal with [[RCA Records|RCA Victor Records]] where they recorded and released the album, ''[[A Joyful Noise (Drinkard Singers album)|A Joyful Noise]]'', in 1958, which made history as one of the first gospel albums to be released on a major label.<ref>{{cite web|last=McCall|first=Tris|author-link=Tris McCall|url=http://www.nj.com/entertainment/music/index.ssf/2012/02/song_of_the_day_lift_him_up_th.html|title=Song of the Day: Lift Him Up, The Drinkard Singers|date=February 17, 2012|website=Nj.com|access-date=February 21, 2012}}</ref> 

By the early 1960s, the group landed on the Sunday morning television gospel show, ''[[TV Gospel Time]]''. By the end of 1962, however, the group had permanently separated due to Houston's growing career as a session vocalist for secular recording artists.

===The Sweet Inspirations===
{{main|The Sweet Inspirations}}
By the early 1960s, Houston's nieces Dionne and Dee Dee Warrick and Sylvia Shemwell and their close friend [[Doris Troy]] had found success under the group the Gospelaires, singing background for various artists including [[The Drifters]]. One night, around late 1961, when Dionne Warrick began working with producer [[Burt Bacharach]], Houston's then-boyfriend, John Houston Jr., who managed the Gospelaires, convinced Houston to replace Dionne for a session for Canadian-American [[rockabilly]] singer [[Ronnie Hawkins]]. After John Houston showed her the money she had made from the session, Houston was convinced to begin a professional singing career as a [[session vocalist]], the group soon found themselves singing for artists such as [[Solomon Burke]], [[Ben E. King]] and The Drifters. 

In 1962, Dionne Warrick permanently separated from the group for good to begin singing professionally, working exclusively with Bacharach and his songwriting partner [[Hal David]] on [[Scepter Records]], leading to the Gospelaires now being Houston, Dee Dee Warwick, Doris Troy and Shemwell before Troy herself left at the end of 1962, leading to her being replaced by [[Myrna Smith]]. The group continued to back the newly rechristened Dionne Warwick and Troy on their solo hits, such as "[[Don't Make Me Over (song)|Don't Make Me Over]]" and "[[Just One Look (song)|Just One Look]]". Then, in 1963, Dee Dee Warwick left the group to began her own solo career. Her place was taken by 17-year-old Estelle Brown. The lineup of Houston, Shemwell, Smith and Brown was the nucleus to what became [[The Sweet Inspirations]].

After singing background for the two Warwicks, [[Garnet Mimms]], [[Wilson Pickett]] and [[Aretha Franklin]] among others for a number of years, the group was hired to back Irish soul singer [[Van Morrison]] on his composition, "[[Brown Eyed Girl]]", in 1967. After the song hit the top ten that year, [[Jerry Wexler]] of [[Atlantic Records]] offered the group, then going by "The Group", a recording contract of their own and advised them to change their name to "The Inspirations". Only after learning that another group had that name, Wexler added "Sweet" in front of their name. Their first album, ''[[The Sweet Inspirations (album)|The Sweet Inspirations]]'', charted, reaching number 90 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] and number 12 on the [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] [[Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums|Best-Selling R&B Albums]] chart, producing three [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] singles, including their sole top twenty Hot 100 hit, "[[Sweet Inspiration (The Sweet Inspirations song)|Sweet Inspiration]]", which later earned the group a [[Grammy Award]] nomination for [[Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals|Best Rhythm & Blues Performance by a Duo or Group]]. The group would record three more albums during Houston's tenure and would continue to back up Aretha Franklin, who began to have a successful recording career after signing with Atlantic the same year as the Sweet Inspirations. The group backed Franklin on hits such as "[[Think (Aretha Franklin song)|Think]]", "[[(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman]]", "[[(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone]]" and "[[Ain't No Way]]", the latter of which would feature Houston's descant in the background.<ref>{{cite web|last=Unterberger|first=Richie|title=All Music Guide|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-sweet-inspirations-mn0000568861/biography |work=The Sweet Inspirations: Biography|publisher=Yahoo! Music|access-date=February 21, 2012}}</ref> The group would also back Franklin during her concerts of this period and also occasionally appeared on TV with Franklin as they did on ''[[The Jonathan Winters Show]]''. 

In addition, the group backed psychedelic rocker [[Jimi Hendrix]] on his song, "[[Burning of the Midnight Lamp]]", which was later featured on Hendrix's final studio album during his lifetime, ''[[Electric Ladyland]]''<ref>{{cite web|last=Jimi Hendrix Experience|first=The|title=Discography|url=http://www.discogs.com/Jimi-Hendrix-Experience-Electric-Ladyland/release/1715314|work=Electric Ladyland|publisher=discogs.com|access-date=February 21, 2012}}</ref> and would also back up more artists such as [[Otis Redding]], [[Lou Rawls]] and [[Dusty Springfield]]. In July 1969, the group was hired to back up [[Elvis Presley]] on the rocker's first live performances in almost a decade at the [[International Hotel (Las Vegas)|International Hotel]]. Presley often introduced them at the shows by saying, "They really live up to their name, ladies & gentlemen: The Sweet Inspirations!" <ref name="Houston">{{cite web|last=Houston|first=Cissy|title=Cissy Houston Remembers Elvis Presley|url=http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/video_cissy_houston_remembers_elvis_presley.shtml|website=Elvis.com.au|access-date=February 21, 2012}}</ref> The original Sweet Inspirations with Houston could be heard on the Presley live albums, ''All Shook Up'' and ''Live in Las Vegas''. By September 1969, Houston had grown tired of performing on the road as her three children were growing up. That month, she decided to quit the Sweet Inspirations and stop touring to stay at home while also settling on a solo career.<ref name="Houston"/> Houston would still mentor the remaining members at her home in [[East Orange, New Jersey]] and occasionally reunite with them during recording sessions, usually backing Franklin, who was by now a family friend and considered an honorary aunt to Houston's three children, all of whom affectionately nicknamed her "Aunt Ree".<ref name=WHCTribune>{{cite web |url= https://www.chicagotribune.com/1985/09/29/with-dionne-cissy-and-aretha-in-the-family-how-can-whitney-houston-fail/ |title=With Dionne, Cissy and Aretha in The Family, How Can Whitney Houston Fail? |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=September 29, 1985 |accessdate=October 20, 2024}}</ref>

===Solo career===
As Cecily Blair, Houston 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 Records]]. 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/chouston.htm|title=chouston|website=www.soulfulkindamusic.net}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Houston"/>  It contained several well received singles, including covers of "[[I'll Be There (Bobby Darin song)|I'll Be There]]" and "[[Be My Baby]]", both of which made the R&B charts as well as the pop charts.<ref name="AMG Soul">{{cite book |editor-last=Bogdanov |editor-first=Vladimir |last1=Unterberger |first1=Richie |title=All Music Guide to Soul: The Definitive Guide to R&B and Soul |date=2003 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=9780879307448 |page=321 |edition=Revised |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o552g5xRRiwC&q=%22Presenting+Cissy+Houston%22+%22debut+album%22&pg=PA321 |access-date=June 22, 2014}}</ref> Following the release of her debut album, Houston's contract was sold to [[Janus Records]].<ref name="AMG Soul"/> 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, which was a minor R&B and UK hit for Houston and later became a number one hit for [[Gladys Knight & the Pips]].<ref name="AMG Soul"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Cissy Houston @ Artist Direct|url=http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/cissy-houston/415062|website=Artistdirect.com|access-date=February 25, 2012}}</ref> She continued to record with Janus Records until 1975.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Nathan|first1=David|title=Cissy Houston: Presenting Cissy Houston Expanded Edition (SMCR-5054)|url=http://www.soulmusic.com/index.asp?S=1&ART=2411|website=soulmusic.com|access-date=June 23, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304131208/http://www.soulmusic.com/index.asp?S=1&ART=2411|archive-date=March 4, 2016}}</ref> Houston performed as backing vocalist on jazz flautist [[Herbie Mann]]'s [[funk]]y [[disco music|disco]] single "Hijack" (1975), album ''Discotheque'' (1975), and album ''Surprise'' (1976).<ref>[http://www.jazzdisco.org/atlantic-records/catalog-1600-series/#sd-1682 Atlantic Records Catalog: 1600 series] Atlantic Records Retrieved February 15, 2024</ref>

In 1977, Houston was signed by [[Private Stock Records]], working with arranger/producer [[Michael Zager]] on three albums. The first, a [[Cissy Houston (album)|self-titled]] effort produced two modest R&B hits, including a soulful, gospel-influenced rendition of "[[Tomorrow (Annie)|Tomorrow]]". The second included her big [[disco]] hit "Think It Over", which climbed to number 32 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Selling Soul Singles chart in 1979 and number 5 on the same magazine's [[Hot Dance Club Play|Disco Action Top 80]] chart. That same year, Houston represented the United States at the [[World Popular Song Festival]]  in [[Tokyo, Japan]] with the song, "You're the Fire", landing second place during its Grand Prix contest and winning the "Most Outstanding Performance Award". The song later appeared on her 1980 disco-flavored album, ''[[Step Aside for a Lady]]'', again produced by Zager, but released on [[Columbia Records]] after Private Stock had folded (the same album was released on [[EMI]] in the United Kingdom). 

During the mid-to-late 1970s through the mid-1980s, Houston began regularly performing all over [[Manhattan]]'s jazz clubs, headlining at venues such as Sweetwaters, Fat Tuesday, Reno Sweeney, [[Seventh Avenue South (jazz club)|Seventh Avenue South]] and [[Mikell's]]. During this time, Houston brought along her teenage daughter [[Whitney Houston|Whitney]] and would have her sing solos to help her get started in the record business. When Whitney began attracting attention from record label scouts offering contracts, Houston would decline such offers, telling them to wait until Whitney finished high school.<ref name="Bronson2003ad">{{cite book|last=Bronson|first= Fred|title=The Billboard book of number 1 hits|date=October 1, 2003|publisher=Random House Digital|isbn=978-0-8230-7677-2|page=629}}</ref><ref name="1990Company">{{cite magazine |magazine=[[Ebony (magazine)|Ebony]] |title=Forever Daddy's Girl |date=June 1990 |page=136 |issn=0012-9011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8tMDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA136 |access-date=September 7, 2021 |first=Lynn |last=Norment}}</ref> It was Houston who eventually convinced her daughter to sign with [[Arista Records]] in the spring of 1983, figuring that label head [[Clive Davis]] was the right man to guide her daughter's career. <ref name=WhitneyRS>{{cite magazine |last=DeCurtis |first=Anthony |title=Whitney Houston: Down and Dirty |date=June 10, 1993 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/whitney-houston-gets-down-and-dirty-192198/ |access-date=October 20, 2024}}</ref> Shortly after Whitney signed with Arista, Cissy was featured on TV with her daughter following Whitney's national television debut on ''[[The Merv Griffin Show]]'', where mother and daughter performed a medley of Aretha Franklin duets with Whitney singing "Aretha" and Houston singing "Cissy". That same year, Houston took part in the [[Off-Broadway]] [[musical theatre|musical]] ''Taking My Turn'', which received a [[Drama Desk Award]] nomination for [[Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical|Outstanding Musical]], often singing the song "I Am Not Old".<ref name="cissyturn">{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzbv0IqfP7k |title=Cissy Houston performing "I Am Not Old" - TAKING MY TURN - PBS Great Performances |work=[[YouTube]] |accessdate=October 23, 2024}}</ref>

After her daughter found musical stardom in the mid-1980s, Houston's solo output slowed, though she contributed duet vocals to her and Whitney's rendition of "[[I Know Him So Well#Cissy Houston and Whitney Houston version|I Know Him So Well]]" on the latter's eponymous [[Whitney (album)|1987 album]]. The song charted in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, becoming Houston's biggest international hit, reaching the top twenty in the latter two countries; Houston later sang the song with her daughter on Whitney's HBO concert special, ''[[Classic Whitney: Live from Washington, D.C.]]'' a decade later. In 1992, she recorded the duet album, ''[[I'll Take Care of You (Chuck Jackson and Cissy Houston album)|I'll Take Care of You]]'', with fellow soul singer and longtime friend [[Chuck Jackson]], on [[Shanachie Records]]. It would be Houston's final secular album as she put her focus primarily on gospel music afterwards. Two years later, Houston joined Whitney onstage for her historic [[Whitney: The Concert for a New South Africa|South African concert performances]], where she directed a South African choir of young girls while Whitney sang the [[Earth, Wind & Fire]] song "Touch the World". Houston also performed the gospel hymn, "[[Mary Don't You Weep]]" at the [[1987 Soul Train Music Awards|first annual ''Soul Train Music Awards'']] and, with Whitney and son Gary, the gospel song, "Wonderful Counselor" at the [[American Music Awards of 1988|15th annual American Music Awards]] in 1988. That same year, she joined her daughter onstage at the [[Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute]] at London's [[Wembley Stadium]], where she performed the gospel-R&B song, "He/I Believe", a song that Whitney had incorporated during the early years of her solo career and which Houston first recorded for her [[Presenting Cissy Houston|debut album in 1970]].

In 1996, after signing with the independent House of Blues label, Houston released the gospel album, ''Face to Face'', which featured a gospel rendition of [[Marvin Gaye]]'s "[[How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)]]". Houston would win her first [[Grammy Award]] at the [[39th Annual Grammy Awards|1997 Grammys showcase]] under the [[Grammy Award for Best Traditional Gospel Album|Best Traditional Gospel Album]] category. In 1997, she released a second album of gospel work, ''He Leadeth Me'', for a one-off [[A&M Records]] deal, and won a second Grammy in the Best Traditional Gospel Album category for that album at the [[41st Annual Grammy Awards|1999 Grammys showcase]]. In between these recordings, she also contributed vocals on "The Lord is My Shepherd" on daughter Whitney's [[The Preacher's Wife (soundtrack)|soundtrack]] to ''[[The Preacher's Wife]]'', which her daughter produced; Houston played a minor role in the film as choir singer Mrs. Havergal, in the film. In 2006, she contributed vocals on the song "Family First" alongside her daughter Whitney, granddaughter [[Bobbi Kristina Brown]] and nieces Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick for the [[Daddy's Little Girls#Soundtrack|soundtrack]] to ''[[Daddy's Little Girls]]''. In June 2012, Houston sang "[[Bridge over Troubled Water (song)|Bridge over Troubled Water]]" as a tribute to her daughter Whitney, who had [[Death of Whitney Houston|passed away that February]]. Two years later, Houston was seen backing up longtime friend Aretha Franklin while Franklin performed her hit, "[[Rolling in the Deep#Aretha Franklin version|Rolling in the Deep]]" on ''[[The Late Show with David Letterman]]''.

===Session musician===
[[File:Cissy Huston.jpg|thumb|upright|Houston in 1996]]
Houston's versatile cross-genre singing style kept her highly in demand as a session musician with some of the world's most successful recording artists. Houston, along with Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick, sang the background vocals on the original recording of ''[[Time Is On My Side]]'' by [[Kai Winding]], released by Verve Records in October 1963. She was one of the backup singers on the [[Paul Simon]] song "[[Mother and Child Reunion]]" (1972). In 1971, Houston contributed lead vocals on several songs featured on Burt Bacharach's self-titled 1971 gold album including "[[One Less Bell to Answer]]", "[[All Kinds of People]]" and "Mexican Divorce". Houston sang back-up on [[Bette Midler]]'s 1972 debut hit album, ''[[The Divine Miss M]]'', as well as Aretha Franklin's 1972 album, ''[[Young, Gifted and Black]]'', the latter with the Sweet Inspirations. Two years later, Houston contributed background vocals on [[Linda Ronstadt]]'s ''[[Heart Like a Wheel]]''. During 1975-76, she worked with jazz flutist [[Herbie Mann]] on three Atlantic albums, ''[[Discothèque (Herbie Mann album)|Discothèque]]'', ''[[Waterbed (album)|Waterbed]]'', and ''[[Surprises (Herbie Mann album)|Surprises]]'', featuring on three tracks, "Violet Don't Be Blue", [[JJ Cale]]'s "[[Okie (J. J. Cale album)|Cajun Moon]]", and "Easter Rising". In 1978, she contributed background vocals on [[Chaka Khan]]'s [[Chaka (album)|self-titled solo debut]], including Khan's breakthrough hit, "[[I'm Every Woman]]". Two years later, with daughter Whitney, Houston also sang on Khan's sophomore effort, ''[[Naughty (Chaka Khan album)|Naughty]]''. Starting in 1981, Houston would sing background on many of [[Luther Vandross]]' recordings that would last throughout Vandross' lifetime. In 1986, Houston joined Vandross, [[Chaka Khan]] and [[David Bowie]] on the song "[[Underground (David Bowie song)|Underground]]", which was Bowie's theme song from his film, ''[[Labyrinth (1986 film)|Labyrinth]]''.<ref>{{cite AV media notes | title=Underground | type=Liner notes | year=1986 | publisher=[[EMI]]}}</ref> Houston would also occasionally back her daughter Whitney, singing background on the number one hit, "[[How Will I Know]]", as well as the track, "Who Do You Love", from Whitney's acclaimed third album, ''[[I'm Your Baby Tonight]]''. Houston was one of several famed notable women that appeared in the music video of her daughter's rendition of "[[I'm Every Woman#Whitney Houston version|I'm Every Woman]]", which later won Whitney an [[NAACP Image Award]] for [[NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Music Video|Outstanding Music Video]] in 1994.

===New Hope Baptist Church Youth Inspirational Choir===
In 1953, after leaving her former church at St. Luke's A.M.E. Church, she and the rest of her family joined the [[New Hope Baptist Church (Newark)|New Hope Baptist Church]], where shortly after being baptized, Houston, 19, began serving as the Minister of Music there, a position she would hold for more than half a century.<ref name="Cissy Houston: National Visionary"/> She was also a driving force behind [[McDonald's Gospelfest]], at which she regularly performed.