Cissy Houston

Cissy Houston represents, for me, the moral center of American popular music. Long before the world knew her surname through her daughter, she was the invisible architecture behind countless hits, a session voice so dependable that stars built entire records on it. What moves me is that she never traded her gospel foundation for fame; she kept returning to the church choir decade after decade, as if to remind everyone where the power actually came from. Her life held staggering triumph and unbearable loss, and she met both with the same steadfast faith. Singers like her are the soil; the stars merely bloom from it.

Emily "Cissy" Houston (née Drinkard; September 30, 1933 – October 7, 2024) was an American soul and gospel singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Houston began singing with three of her siblings in a family gospel group, the Drinkard Singers. By the early 1960s, Houston had begun a career as a session vocalist for several secular musicians in the rhythm and blues, soul, rock and roll, and pop genres.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Name (English)

Cissy Houston

Name (Japanese)

シシー・ヒューストン

Reading

ししー・ひゅーすとん

Born

September 30, 1933 – October 7, 2024

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Libra / Rooster

Origin

Newark, New Jersey, United States

Blood type

Private

Height

Private

Agency

Private

Occupation

singer

Elementary school

Private

Junior high

Private

High school

Malcolm X Shabazz High School

University

Private

Awards & achievements

• 2019 New Jersey Hall of Fame

Spouse

Private

Children

Private

Parents

Private

Siblings

Private

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cissy%20Houston

Tags

• New Jersey
• singer

Last updated

2026-06-10

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.