Cissy Houston became a world-renowned Soul/R&B/pop singer. Houston's second marriage also ended in divorce. Aretha Franklin was an honorary aunt of Houston's daughter. In the late 1990s, Houston's daughter Whitney began to struggle with drug addiction. Houston staged several interventions to get her daughter into rehabilitation and recovery programs. On one occasion she obtained a court order and the assistance of two sheriffs to intervene, persuading her daughter to undertake treatment at Hope For Women Residential & Therapeutic Services in Atlanta, Georgia. In her 2013 book, "Remembering Whitney: My Story of Love, Loss, and the Night the Music Stopped", Cissy Houston described
Whitney Houston Saint Dominic in 1981. While Houston was still in school, her mother, Cissy, continued to teach her how to sing. Houston spent some of her teenage years touring nightclubs where Cissy was performing, and she would occasionally get on stage and perform with her. Houston was also exposed to the music of Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, and Roberta Flack, most of whom would have an influence on her as a singer and performer. In 1977, at age 14, she became a backup singer on the Michael Zager Band's single "Life's a Party". In 1978, at age 15, Houston sang background