Whitney Houston 2, 2003), and gospel singer Emily "Cissy" (Drinkard) Houston. Her elder brother Michael is a singer, and her elder half-brother is former basketball player Gary Garland. Her parents were both African American. Through her mother, Houston was a first cousin of singers Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick. Her godmother was Darlene Love and her honorary aunt was Aretha Franklin, whom she met at age 8 or 9 when her mother took her to a recording studio. Houston was raised a Baptist, but was also exposed to the Pentecostal church. After the 1967 Newark riots, the family moved to a
The Star Spangled Banner (Whitney Houston recording) was lip-synching or finger-synching." During this controversy, Houston's personal publicist, Regins Brown said that "Our understanding is Whitney sang live." Brown added that the song was recorded in a studio several days before the Super Bowl, which has always been the National Football League (NFL) policy, stating "NFL policy is that when they have a performer singing the national anthem for live TV, they request the performer record what they call a protection copy, just in case the singer has laryngitis, the day of the Super Bowl." Dan Klores, a spokesman for Houston, explained "This is not a Milli Vanilli