Cissy Houston, singer and mother of Whitney Houston, dies at 91

By Danielle Broadway

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Cissy Houston, Grammy-winning soul and gospel singer and mother of the late Whitney Houston, died in her New Jersey home on Monday at the age of 91.

Houston's daughter-in-law, Pat Houston, shared the news on Instagram.

“It saddens my heart to announce the passing of my beloved Queen Cissy Houston today! Please keep the Houston family in your prayers,” Pat Houston wrote alongside a picture collage of the late singer.

The gospel singer was born in Newark, New Jersey, as Emily Drinkard on Sept. 30, 1933, and she later took the professional name Cissy Houston.

She began her career as a member of a gospel group called the Drinkard Four and later became a founding member of the R&B group the Sweet Inspirations.

She sang backup for legendary artists including Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Otis Redding and Dionne Warwick.

Her music defied gender and racial boundaries, and she collaborated with Elvis Presley, Bette Midler and Linda Ronstadt - a rare feat for a Black woman artist at the time.

Houston launched her solo career in 1970, winning two Grammy Awards for her gospel music.

Cissy Houston’s daughter, singer Whitney Houston, died at the Beverly Hilton hotel in 2012. She was found submerged in her bathtub by a member of her personal staff.

(Reporting by Danielle Broadway in Los Angeles; Editing by Mary Milliken and Matthew Lewis)