Editing Cissy Houston (section)

===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>