ZUM TOD DER US-AMERIKANISCHEN GOSPEL- UND SOUL-SÄNGERIN CISSY HOUSTON

Die am 30. September 1933 als Emily Drinkard in Newark (New Jersey) geborene US-amerikanische Gospel- und Soulsängerin Cissy Houston (Bild) ist am 7. Oktober 2024 ebenda gestorben. Sie war die Mutter von Whitney Houston, die Grossmutter von Bobbi Kristina Brown sowie die Tante von Dee Dee und Dionne Warwick. Sie war Mitglied der Sweet Inspirations, mit der sie Hits wie «Sweet Inspiration», «To Love Somebody», «Unchained Melody» (1968) und «Crying in the Rain» (1969) hatte. Die Sweet Inspirations waren gefragte Backgroundsängerinnen für Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, George Benson oder Dusty Springfield. Eine 1969 aufgenommene Version von «Are You Lonesome Tonight?» wurde als «Lachversion» später weltbekannt – hierbei sang sie ihren Part ungerührt einfach weiter, während Presley durch einen Vorfall im Publikum amüsiert wurde. 1997 wurde Cissy Houston mit dem Grammy für das Gospel-Album «Face to Face» ausgezeichnet, auch das Nachfolgewerk «He Leadeth Me» erhielt diese Auszeichnung. (*)

Bild: Cissy Houston From N.A.B.O.B. Washington D.C. 1996 – Foto: Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com – Lizenz: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en – Datei: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cissy_Huston.jpg

Cissy Houston Dies at 91; Gospel Star Guided Daughter Whitney’s Rise

Hailing from a musical family, she won Grammys, sang backup to Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin and helped shepherd Whitney Houston to superstardom.

Glenn Rifkin

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/07/arts/music/cissy-houston-dead.html

Cissy Houston, Grammy winner and Whitney Houston’s mother, dies at 91

Cissy Houston, a Grammy Award winner who built a successful career as a backup vocalist and gospel singer before helping launch her daughter, Whitney Houston, to even greater fame, died Oct. 7 at her home in New Jersey. She was 91.

Emily Langer

https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/10/07/cissy-houston-whitney-mother-dead/

Vocalist who sang with Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, and Jimi Hendrix championed her daughter’s success

The singer was in hospice, where she was receiving care for Alzheimer’s disease, at the time of her death. In a statement, her daughter-in-law, Pat Houston, said that she was surrounded by her family. «Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness,» Pat said. «We lost the matriarch of our family. … Mother Cissy has been a strong and towering figure in our lives. A woman of deep faith and conviction, who cared greatly about family, ministry, and community. Her more than seven-decade career in music and entertainment will remain at the forefront of our hearts.»

Kory Grow

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/cissy-houston-dead-obituary-1235128068/

Cissy Houston, Renowned Gospel Singer and Whitney Houston’s Mother, Dies at 91

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Houston got her start in entertainment as a member of the gospel group Drinkard Four. She later formed the Sweet Inspirations alongside Dee Dee Warwick and Doris Troy, singing backup for Otis Redding, Dusty Springfield and Dionne Warwick. As part of the group, she contributed to Van Morrison’s «Brown Eyed Girl» and the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s «Burning of the Midnight Lamp.»

Steven J. Horowitz

https://variety.com/2024/music/news/cissy-houston-dead-gospel-soul-singer-whitney-houston-1236170215/

Cissy Houston obituary

The career of the American singer Cissy Houston, who has died aged 91, exemplified the vital force underlying so much modern popular music: the close relationship between African-American sacred and secular idioms, specifically the influence seeping from Black gospel music, with its deep emotional roots and eruptions of ecstatic fervour, into the fabric of R&B, soul and pop.

Richard Williams

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/oct/08/cissy-houston-obituary

Hommage à la chanteuse soul et gospel Cissy Houston, mère de Whitney, morte à 91 ans

La chanteuse américaine de soul et gospel Cissy Houston, mère de Whitney Houston, est morte à l’âge de 91 ans, a annoncé lundi sa belle-fille. Elle avait notamment mené une carrière en tant que choriste d’Elvis Presley et Aretha Franklin au sein de The Sweet Inspirations et gagné deux Grammy en solo.

afp/olhor

https://www.rts.ch/info/culture/musiques/2024/article/hommage-a-la-chanteuse-soul-et-gospel-cissy-houston-mere-de-whitney-morte-a-91-ans-28656159.html

Die majestätische Stimme im Hintergrund

Cissy Houston war eine der besten Background-Sängerinnen aller Zeiten, in den Vordergrund ist sie erst spät getreten.

Christoph Amend

https://www.zeit.de/kultur/musik/2024-10/cissy-houston-whitney-houston-saengerin-tod-nachruf

Audios / Videos:

«Sweet Inspiration» by the Sweet Inspirations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjvkJTLdR28

Sweet Inspirations Sweet inspiration Video 1968

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dN8C8IKdn0

I’ll Be There / Cissy Houston