The music world is mourning a tragic loss.
Cissy Houston—the mother of the late Whitney Houston and a Grammy-award winning singer—has died, her family confirmed to the Associated Press Oct. 7. She was 91.
Cissy passed away in her New Jersey home on Oct. 7 while under hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease—a type of dementia that affects memory, thinking and behavior—the outlet reported.
“Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness,” her daughter-in-law Pat Houston shared in an Oct. 7 statement to the Associated Press. “We lost the matriarch of our family.”
Noting that her mother-in-law’s contributions to music were “unparalleled,” Pat went on to describe Cissy as a “strong and towering figure in our lives.”
“A woman of deep faith and conviction, who cared greatly about family, ministry, and community,” she continued. “Her more than seven-decade career in music and entertainment will remain at the forefront of our hearts.”
