Cissy Houston Battling Devastating Health Issue, Per ‘Radar Online’
A blockbuster story published by Radar Online alleges that the mother of Whitney Houston, legendary gospel singer Cissy Houston, is battling a devastating health issue.
The 84-year-old Houston family matriarch is reportedly dealing with the early stages of dementia.
“She’s in the early stages of dementia,” a source told Radar Online of the Grammy-winning Gospel singer. “She repeats herself a lot and doesn’t remember what she says. She just says she’s getting old.”
Houston, who worked with the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley at one point in her career as a backup singer, has been allegedly devastated by recent claims that a close family member molested Cissy’s daughter Whitney.
Recent claims made by Whitney’s brother, Gary, that he and his songstress sister were molested as children by their cousin, Dee Dee Warwick, has reportedly added to Cissy Houston’s health struggles.
“The family is already fractured enough,” said a source close to the clan, “but she has had enough clarity to know what’s going on with these claims and is very upset.”
The accusations against Dee Dee Warwick stemmed from a new documentary, Whitney, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May.
Dee Dee, who died in 2008, was also a singer who worked with both Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin, according to Radar Online. Dee Dee is the sister of singer Dionne Warwick.
At the time of Gary Houston’s claims, both Cissy Houston and Dionne Warwick released a joint statement refuting Gary’s claims.
“We cannot, however, overstate the shock and horror we feel and the difficulty we have believing that my niece Dee Dee Warwick (Dionne’s sister) molested two of my three children,” the statement read, as reported by Radar.
“I spent many years in recording studios (sometimes with Dionne and/or Dee Dee) where I earned my living. I also went ‘on the road’ with my group The Sweet Inspirations to try to help provide a good life for my family BUT my children always came first in my heart and in my life,” said Cissy.
Cissy Houston authored a book that was released shortly after her daughter’s death titled Remembering Whitney, where she spoke about her daughter’s meteoric rise to the top of the music business and her longtime battle with drug abuse.
Whitney Houston died of a drug overdose on February 11, 2012, at her guest room at the Beverly Hilton, in Beverly Hills, California. The coroner’s report showed that she had accidentally drowned in the bathtub, with heart disease and cocaine use as contributing factors.
