Cissy Houston Research Paper

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THE BIOGRAPHY OF CISSY HOUSTON Introduction Cissy Houston was a legendary singer who enjoyed great success and shared the stage with many legendary musicians. She had a significant impact on Whitney Houston's upbringing and musical interests; she was also Whitney's mother. Houston was a gospel and soul vocalist who won awards and shared the stage with legendary artists. She rose to fame as a backing vocalist for legendary performers including Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, and Elvis Presley. The connection between Cissy and Aretha continued throughout Aretha's lifetime after their first meeting. After finding success in the background singing industry, Cissy decided to go out on her own. In the course of her solo career, Cissy has put out …show more content…

She attended the African Methodist Episcopal Church as a child and was the eighth of eight siblings. Even though it was uncommon for Black people to own huge tracts of land, the Drinkards did just that in Blakely, Georgia. As they sold off smaller plots of land over time to pay off a close relative's mounting legal bills, the asset dwindled away. The family moved to New Jersey during the Great Migration after Houston's three eldest siblings were born. Her parents prioritized education and church involvement for their children, while her father motivated Houston and her siblings to sing. Houston was a student at South Side High School. "The Drinkard Four" were a gospel singing group that Nicholas persuaded his four children—Cissy, Anne, Larry, and Nick—to establish. In 1938, five-year-old Cissy's mother, Delia, experienced a stroke and subsequently succumbed to cerebral hemorrhage three years later. When Houston was eighteen, her father passed away in March 1952 from stomach cancer. Lee and Mancel Warrick, Cissy's older sister and husband, took her in. Marie Dionne Warrick, Delia Juanita (Dee Dee) Warrick, and Mancel Warrick Jr. were the Warricks' three …show more content…

Houston contributed vocals as a background singer to the albums Discotheque (1975), Surprise (1976), and Hijack (1975) by jazz flautist Herbie Mann. Houston collaborated on three albums with arranger/producer Michael Zager after being signed by Private Stock Records in 1977. A disco smash, Think It Over reached number 32 on the 1979 Billboard R&B chart as part of the second. Performing the song You're the Fire as the United States' representative at the 1979 World Popular Song Festival, she took home the "Most Outstanding Performance Award" and placed second. This was also featured on her 1980 disco-influenced album, Step Aside for a Lady, which was once more produced by Zager, but distributed by Columbia Records (and EMI in the United Kingdom). Session Musician Session work with some of the most famous musicians in the world was a constant source of income for Houston because of her adaptable, cross-genre singing style. During the original recording of Time Is On My Side by Kai Winding, which was issued by Verve Records in October 1963, Houston, Dionne Warwick, and Dee Dee Warwick were the vocalists who provided the background

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