When Whitney Houston Met Elvis
Whitney Houston’s mother sang with Elvis Presley — so the two idols met face-to-face in 1969
Whitney Houston and Elvis Presley, two of the best-loved singers of two generations, met when Houston was 6. Her mother sang with Elvis.
“You don’t really meet — you actually just look at Elvis,” Houston recalled in an interview before her death. “My mother sang with Elvis for years. She and her group, they were called the Sweet Inspirations. They also sang for Aretha (Franklin) for many years.”
Because the Sweet Inspirations were on all Franklin songs, Houston explained that “Elvis took a liking to them, and my mom sang with him for many years, and they were very close.”
The first time they saw each other
It was July 1969 in Las Vegas. Elvis hadn’t performed in a live concert in nine years. What would happen?
That summer of 1969 was when the two pop idols met because Whitney’s mother, Cissy Houston, would leave the Sweet Inspirations in October 1969 to pursue a solo career and spend more time with her children.
The Sweet Inspirations sang with Elvis from 1969 until he died in 1977.
