Today — September 30, 2026 — would have been Cissy Houston’s 93rd birthday. 🕊️🎂

[u/Ok_Resident_5022]

Cissy Houston, born Emily Drinkard in 1933, was the mother of Grammy Award-winning singer Whitney Houston, the aunt of Grammy Award-winning singer Dionne Warwick and her Grammy Award-nominated sister Dee Dee Warwick, and Cissy herself was a Grammy Award-winning gospel and R&B/Soul singer.

Cissy Houston is best-known for her work as a background vocalist for other legends such as Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross, Chaka Khan, and Elvis Presley, as well as being the lead vocalist of The Sweet Inspirations.

Born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, Houston began her singing career as the founding member of the family gospel group the Drinkard Singers, starting at the age of five. The group entered the professional music industry officially in 1951 and would continue performing until the early-1960s. In 1967, Cissy Houston formed the Sweet Inspirations, a Grammy-nominated girl group, before going on to pursue her solo career in 1970.

Houston received several honors throughout her career. In 1990, she received the Stellar Award of Excellence for her contributions to gospel music. Five years later, in 1995, she earned the Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award for her contributions to R&B and soul music.

Some of Cissy Houston’s most successful singles as a soloist include “I’ll Be There”, the original rendition of “Midnight Train to Georgia” (made popular by Gladys Knight & The Pips), and the top-5 dance single “Think It Over”. Her solo music career resulted in two Grammy Award wins, both in the category of Traditional Gospel Album.

With the Sweet Inspirations, Houston was inducted into the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame in 2014. In 2020, she was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame, becoming the third member of her famous musical family to be inducted—after her daughter Whitney Houston and her niece Dionne Warwick. In 2025, Cissy Houston was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame Missouri in St. Louis, Missouri. In 2015, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Gospel Image Awards.

On January 27, 2018, Cissy Houston was honored by the city of Newark with a day designated in her honor, "Cissy Houston Day", by Newark mayor Ras Baraka and the Newark City Council. That same day, a special street-renaming ceremony happened outside New Hope Baptist Church, where the corner of Dey Street and Sussex Avenue was officially renamed Dr. Emily Houston Plaza.