HAPPY BIRTHDAY Emily Cissy Drinkard Houston September 30, 1933 is a soul, gospel singer. After a successful career singing backup for such artists as Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin she embarked on a solo career, winning two Grammy Awards for her work. She is the mother of Whitney Houston, aunt of Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick, and a cousin of opera singer Leontyne Price. Born Emily Drinkard in Newark, New Jersey to Nitcholas and Delia Mae Drinkard (née McCaskill), she was the eighth child; older siblings were her brothers William, Hansom, Nicky, and Larry, and sisters Lee, Marie and Anne. Houstons father Nitcholas Drinkard was born to Susan Bell (called Delia) Drinkard (née Fuller), of Dutch and African-American descent. His father John Drinkard, Jr., was of Native American and African descent. The Drinkards had owned a substantial amount of farmland in Blakely, Georgia, during a time when it was unusual for blacks to own large portions of land. The asset was gradually depleted as they sold small portions of the land over time, to resolve the continued legal troubles of a close relative. After Houstons three oldest siblings were born, the family relocated to New Jersey during the Second Great Migration. Her parents emphasized the children getting educated and being involved in the church, and her father encouraged Houston and her siblings to sing. In 1938 when Houston was five years old, her mother, Delia, suffered a stroke and died of cerebral hemorrhage three years later. Her father died of stomach cancer in 1951 when Houston was 18. Cissy and her siblings went to live with her older sister Lee and her husband Mancel Warwick.The Warwicks had three children: a son, Mancel Warwick Jr. and two daughters Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick. Renowned soprano Leontyne Price is a Drinkard cousin. In 1955, Houston married Freddie Garland and had a son, Gary Garland, an NBA basketball player and DePaul University Athletic Hall of Famer.The Garlands divorced soon after. In 1959, she married John Russell Houston, Jr., a Newark City Administrator and entertainment executive. The couple had a son Michael Houston, who became a songwriter, and a daughter, Whitney Houston, who became an R&B/pop singer . Aretha Franklin was an honorary aunt of Houstons daughter.. In 1963, then about to give birth to daughter Whitney Houston, she formed the Sweet Inspirations with Doris Troy and niece Dee Dee Warwick. Later, under contract to Atlantic Records, Sylvia Shemwell, Estelle Brown and Myrna Smith form the line-up. During the mid-1960s, the Sweet Inspirations provided backup vocals for a variety of artists, including Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Lou Rawls, The Drifters, Dusty Springfield and Houstons niece Dionne Warwick. They appeared on Van Morrisons single Brown Eyed Girl. Houston performed the operatic soprano melody on the Aretha Franklin hit, Aint No Way. In 1967, The Sweet Inspirations sang background vocals for The Jimi Hendrix Experience on the track Burning of the Midnight Lamp. In 1969, they were hired to sing backing vocals for Elvis Presley in Las Vegas on his return to live performances during July and August 1969. Presley often introduced them at shows by saying, They really live up to their name ladies & gentleman, The Sweet Inspirations! Many of these performances can be heard on the All Shook Up and Live In Las Vegas live records. Performing with Elvis Presley was Houstons final gig with The Sweet Inspirations. As her children were growing bigger, she decided to stop touring and focus on her career as a recording artist. In the 1990s, Houstons daughter Whitney began to struggle with drug addiction. Houston staged several interventions to get her daughter into rehabilitation and recovery programs. On one occasion she obtained a court order and the assistance of two sheriffs to intervene, convincing her daughter to undertake treatment at Hope For Women Residential & Therapeutic Services in Atlanta, Georgia. Her daughter cycled through recovery, relapse and rehabilitation programs.On February 11, 2012, Whitney Houston, died at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. After her daughters death, in an interview with the New Jersey TV station WWOR, Houston expressed her distaste of the medias coverage of related events: The media are awful. People have come from here and there, dont know what theyre talking about, she said. People I havent seen in 20 years … Here they come, think they know everything, but thats not true. But God has his way of taking care of all of it, and Im glad I know that. They really chopped on her, chopped on her … kept, kept, kept. Houston has six grandchildren. In 1996, Houston received the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album for Face to Face, an album that contained a Gospel version of How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You). The same year she contributed one song to the gospel soundtrack album for the film The Preachers Wife, which starred her daughter Whitney Houston. In 1998, she won her second Grammy for her album He Leadeth Me. She has also continued to record infrequent secular material and in 1987, Houston and her daughter Whitney recorded a duet titled I Know Him So Well, a cover of the original by Barbara Dickson and Elaine Paige from the Broadway show, Chess. This song also became a single in early 1989 as the 6th and last single release (in selected European countries) from Whitneys album Whitney. In 1992 she teamed up with Chuck Jackson for an album of solo and duet recordings entitled Ill Take Care of You. In 2006, she recorded the song Family First with niece Dionne Warwick and daughter Whitney Houston for the soundtrack to the movie Daddys Little Girls. In 2010, Cissy attended the third annual BET Honors with her daughter Whitney, who received the entertainment award. In 2012, Cissy performed Bridge Over Troubled Water at the tribute for her daughter at the BET Music Awards. For more than fifty years, Houston has led the 200-member Youth Inspirational Choir at the New Hope Baptist Church. She is driving force behind and performs annually at the McDonalds Gospelfest.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 11:12:04 +0000
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