Emily Drinkard, known professionally as Cissy Houston, was one of the founding members of The Sweet Inspirations which were hired to sing backing vocals for Elvis on his return to live performances during July and August 1969.
Everybody in the Elvis World knows Cissy Houston's soprano voice because it is her you hear on the infamous 1969 Laughing Version of Are You Lonesome Tonight.
By September 1969, Cissy had grown tired of performing on the road as her three children were growing up. That month, she decided to quit The Sweet Inspirations and stop touring to stay at home while also settling on a solo career.
Cissy's versatile cross-genre singing style kept her highly in demand as a session musician with some of the great recording artists. She recorded more than 600 songs in her career, which culminated with two Grammy Award wins, both in the Traditional Gospel Album category.
