Cissy Houston Cissy Houston Emily "Cissy" Houston (née Drinkard; born September 30, 1933) is an American soul and gospel singer. After a successful career singing backup for such artists as Dionne Warwick, Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin, Houston embarked on a solo career, winning two Grammy Awards for her work. Houston is the mother of singer Whitney Houston, grandmother of Bobbi Kristina Brown, aunt of singers Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick, and a cousin of opera singer Leontyne Price. Born Emily Drinkard in Newark, New Jersey, to Nitcholas and Delia Mae Drinkard (née McCaskill), she was the eighth and final child; older
American Music Award nominations for Whitney Houston American Music Award nominations for Whitney Houston Following is a list of American Music Award wins and nominations for pop/R&B icon Whitney Houston. Whitney Houston was nominated in a total of 38 categories and won 22 of them during her career AMA including two special awards ― Award of Merit and International Artist Award. At its 21st ceremonies in 1994, Houston tied Michael Jackson on the record for the most AMA ever won in a single year with 8 awards. Also, she is the second female artist with the most wins at AMA, after Taylor Swift and overall the forth