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Cissy Houston
Emily Drinkard (September 30, 1933 – October 7, 2024), known professionally as Cissy Houston, 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. After joining her nieces' group the Gospelaires for a session with Ronnie Hawkins in 1961, Houston gradually took control of the group, which revamped into "The Group" with Houston, niece Sylvia Shemwell, Myrna Smith and teenager Estelle Brown. She eventually founded the girl group The Sweet Inspirations with Shemwell, Smith and Brown in 1967 and that year signed a contract with Atlantic Records. With Houston as lead singer, the Sweet Inspirations would record four albums before Houston departed for a solo career in 1970. Her best-known solo singles include the top 20 R&B chart single, "I'll Be There" and the top 5 dance single, "Think It Over". Her solo career culminated with two Grammy Award wins, both in the Traditional Gospel Album category.
Besides her session work and work with the Sweet Inspirations, Houston was also known as the mother of renowned singer and actress Whitney Houston and the aunt of singers Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick. She was also a first cousin of opera singer Leontyne Price. Houston was honored by several institutions over her career. In 1990, she received the Stellar Award of Excellence for her contributions to gospel music. Five years later, in 1995, Houston earned the Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award for her contributions to rhythm and blues and soul music. With the Sweet Inspirations, Houston was inducted into the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame in 2014 (the same year as her daughter Whitney). In 2019, she was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. In 2025, Houston, along with her daughter Whitney, was inducted into the Missouri Gospel Music Hall of Fame in St. Louis, Missouri.
Emily Drinkard was born on September 30, 1933 in Newark, New Jersey to Delia Mae "Dee Dee" (née McCaskill) and Nicholas "Nitch" Drinkard, the youngest of eight children. Houston was the granddaughter of a black landowner in Blakely, Georgia, who later shared the land he owned with Houston's father Nitch during a time when it was unusual for black people to have large landholdings. The asset was gradually depleted as they sold small portions of land over time to resolve the continued legal troubles of a close relative, which later led to the entire family relocating to Newark during the Great Migration a decade before Houston's birth. Houston stated that she possessed some Dutch and Native American ancestry due to her grandparents Susan Bell (née Fuller) and John Drinkard Jr., respectively.
Houston's parents placed a high priority upon their children's education and church involvement. Around the time of Houston's fifth birthday, her mother Delia suffered a stroke. To help her recovery, and to lift the family's spirits, Houston's father encouraged Houston and her elder siblings Anne, Nicholas Jr. ("Nicky") and Larry to sing sacred hymns. Later, the siblings formed The Drinkard Four and sang jubilees in various churches, including their own St. Luke's A.M.E. Church. Three years later, in 1941, Delia Drinkard died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
Houston stated that she "found Christ" after listening to a sermon at the age of fourteen.
Nitch Drinkard died of stomach cancer in March 1952 when Houston was 18. For a time, Houston went to live with her older sister Lee and her husband Mancel Warrick and helped to raise her two nieces, Dionne and Dee Dee, and her nephew Mancel Jr. Soprano Leontyne Price is a Drinkard cousin.
Houston attended South Side High School in Newark, graduating in 1952. Raised Methodist Episcopal, Houston shifted to the Baptist denomination after she joined the New Hope Baptist Church at around age 19.
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.
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Cissy Houston
Emily Drinkard (September 30, 1933 – October 7, 2024), known professionally as Cissy Houston, 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. After joining her nieces' group the Gospelaires for a session with Ronnie Hawkins in 1961, Houston gradually took control of the group, which revamped into "The Group" with Houston, niece Sylvia Shemwell, Myrna Smith and teenager Estelle Brown. She eventually founded the girl group The Sweet Inspirations with Shemwell, Smith and Brown in 1967 and that year signed a contract with Atlantic Records. With Houston as lead singer, the Sweet Inspirations would record four albums before Houston departed for a solo career in 1970. Her best-known solo singles include the top 20 R&B chart single, "I'll Be There" and the top 5 dance single, "Think It Over". Her solo career culminated with two Grammy Award wins, both in the Traditional Gospel Album category.
Besides her session work and work with the Sweet Inspirations, Houston was also known as the mother of renowned singer and actress Whitney Houston and the aunt of singers Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick. She was also a first cousin of opera singer Leontyne Price. Houston was honored by several institutions over her career. In 1990, she received the Stellar Award of Excellence for her contributions to gospel music. Five years later, in 1995, Houston earned the Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award for her contributions to rhythm and blues and soul music. With the Sweet Inspirations, Houston was inducted into the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame in 2014 (the same year as her daughter Whitney). In 2019, she was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. In 2025, Houston, along with her daughter Whitney, was inducted into the Missouri Gospel Music Hall of Fame in St. Louis, Missouri.
Emily Drinkard was born on September 30, 1933 in Newark, New Jersey to Delia Mae "Dee Dee" (née McCaskill) and Nicholas "Nitch" Drinkard, the youngest of eight children. Houston was the granddaughter of a black landowner in Blakely, Georgia, who later shared the land he owned with Houston's father Nitch during a time when it was unusual for black people to have large landholdings. The asset was gradually depleted as they sold small portions of land over time to resolve the continued legal troubles of a close relative, which later led to the entire family relocating to Newark during the Great Migration a decade before Houston's birth. Houston stated that she possessed some Dutch and Native American ancestry due to her grandparents Susan Bell (née Fuller) and John Drinkard Jr., respectively.
Houston's parents placed a high priority upon their children's education and church involvement. Around the time of Houston's fifth birthday, her mother Delia suffered a stroke. To help her recovery, and to lift the family's spirits, Houston's father encouraged Houston and her elder siblings Anne, Nicholas Jr. ("Nicky") and Larry to sing sacred hymns. Later, the siblings formed The Drinkard Four and sang jubilees in various churches, including their own St. Luke's A.M.E. Church. Three years later, in 1941, Delia Drinkard died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
Houston stated that she "found Christ" after listening to a sermon at the age of fourteen.
Nitch Drinkard died of stomach cancer in March 1952 when Houston was 18. For a time, Houston went to live with her older sister Lee and her husband Mancel Warrick and helped to raise her two nieces, Dionne and Dee Dee, and her nephew Mancel Jr. Soprano Leontyne Price is a Drinkard cousin.
Houston attended South Side High School in Newark, graduating in 1952. Raised Methodist Episcopal, Houston shifted to the Baptist denomination after she joined the New Hope Baptist Church at around age 19.
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.