NEWARK, N.J. – Dionne Warwick, BeBe Winans, Darlene Love and a massive choir helped celebrate the life of gospel icon Cissy Houston during a music-filled memorial Thursday in the Duchess of Gospel’s hometown of Newark.
The ceremony at New Hope Baptist Church — where Houston was a congregant and choir leader for decades — was decorated with framed photos of Houston and her coffin was placed in front of the pulpit. The church also held daughter Whitney Houston's funeral more than a decade ago.
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“She gave so much. She gave me the right to be me,” said Warwick, 83, the 91-year-old Houston’s niece, who often backed up Warwick.
“Cissy, I’m going to miss you,” she added, asking her aunt to greet her passed relatives. “They're all waiting for you. You gave us your heart and soul.”
Houston, a two-time Grammy-winning soul and gospel artist who sang with Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley, died Oct. 7. In her honor, her oldest son, Gary, sang “Freedom” and Love sang “It Is Well with My Soul.” Her goddaughters said they would carry on her tradition of wearing purple eyeshadow proudly.
A portrait emerged from the speakers of a woman of great faith and deep love but also one who suffered fools poorly. “No one else could cut you in Jesus’ name,” Winans joked as the mourners roared. “You didn’t have to say words. She could cut you with her eyes.”
He also told a story of her compassion: When Whitney Houston died, Winans got a call from Cissy. “I’m just calling to check on you,” she told him. ”At that moment, her strength became my strength. It was just who she was.”
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka read a proclamation created in her honor and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy called Houston a “musical legend” who “embodied the very soul of New Jersey.”
“While each one of us are born with a voice, only a select few of us are endowed with a voice that is powerful enough to reach into the hearts of millions and millions of listeners around the world, a voice that is powerful enough to soothe the pain of heartbreak or to carry the euphoria of falling in love,” Murphy said.
A church performer from an early age, Houston was part of a family gospel act before breaking through in popular music in the 1960s as a member of the prominent backing group The Sweet Inspirations, with Doris Troy and niece Dee Dee Warwick. The group sang backup for a variety of soul singers including Otis Redding, Lou Rawls and The Drifters. They also sang backup for Warwick.
Houston’s many credits included Franklin’s “Think” and ”(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” and Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man.” The Sweet Inspirations also sang on stage with Presley.
The Sweet Inspirations had their own top 20 single with the soul-rock “Sweet Inspiration,” made in the Memphis studio where Franklin and Springfield, among others, recorded hits. They released four albums just in the late ’60s.
Houston became an in-demand session singer and recorded more than 600 songs in multiple genres throughout her career. Her vocals can be heard on tracks alongside a wide range of artists including Chaka Khan, Donny Hathaway, Jimi Hendrix, Luther Vandross, Beyoncé, Paul Simon, Roberta Flack and her own daughter.
“What she represents is so powerful that it continues to echo to this day,” said the Rev. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson. “She worked with the Irish and African Americans and Italians and Latino and Jewish brothers and sisters because she believed in a patchwork and quiltwork of diversity. Unlike others who try to negate the beauty and value of all of us coming together.”
Others in the audience included singers Valerie Simpson and Monifah Carter, and producer Debra Martin Chase.
New Hope's pastor, Joe A. Carter, who would kiss Houston's casket, laughed that while he has led the congregation for over 30 years, “She was my pastor.” Six pallbearers then carried Houston's coffin as the choir sang “He Shall Lead His Flock.”