Who Were Cissy Houston's Children? The Singer Mourned Two of Them Before She Died at Age 91

The music world is mourning the loss of another legend. On Oct. 7, 2024, Cissy Houston died at 91, as confirmed by Whitney Houston's estate.

Cissy, a talented singer in her own right, was best known as Whitney's mother. However, "the voice" was only her youngest child, as she leaves behind more children.

Born Emily Dawkins on Sept. 30, 1933, Cissy's legacy includes her three children. During her lifetime, the "Think It Over" songstress welcomed two sons, Gary Garland and Michael Houston, and her only daughter, Whitney. Gary is Cissy's child with her first husband, football player Freddie Garland. She and Freddie were married in 1954 and divorced two years later. In 1959, Cissy married John Houston, Jr., and they welcomed Whitney and Michael before divorcing in 1990.

John also had a son, John Russell Houston III, from a previous marriage, who was Whitney's paternal half-brother.

The siblings developed many of Cissy's musical sounds during their formative years. They grew up watching her sing backup for notable acts like Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, and Chaka Khan, and eventually followed her lead. When Whitney began pursuing music in the 1980s, her brothers were right by her.

Gary sang several duets with the singer on her early albums while Michael and John wrote music, with Michael being her tour manager. Michael admitted in Whitney's self-titled 2018 documentary that being his sister's tour manager led him to develop a drug addiction. When his sister died in 2012, he shared during an interview with Oprah that he also introduced her to drugs. The revelation came years after Whitney's ex-husband, Bobby Brown, had long been accused of the act.

After Whitney died, the Houston family lost John III, who died in 2021. Not much is known about John's death, though his obituary states the Maryland native "passed away peacefully at home with family by his side."

Since Cissy's death, her sons have yet to speak out. However, her daughter-in-law, Gary's wife, Pat Houston, expressed her condolences on Instagram.