Freddie Garland is the first man Cissy Houston got married to in 1955. Their union was blessed with a son named Gary Garland in 1957. But the same year the couple birthed their child, they decided to settle for a divorce. She later married John Houston Jr. in 1964 and remained with him for about 3 decades.
Meanwhile, Cissy is a talented American soul and gospel singer who is also recognized as the mother of one of America’s best-selling music artists of all time, Whitney Houston.
Meet The Men Cissy Houston Has Been With
Freddie Garland was still Cissy’s husband when she started dating John Houston Jr.
Freddie Garland married Cissy Houston in 1955 and their union was blessed with a son named Gary Garlad in 1957. While she was still married to Freddie, Cissy met John Rusell Houston Jr. and embarked on a romance that later resulted in the birth of their kids, Michael and Whitney Houston.
Similarly, during the early years of her relationship with John, John was also still married to his first wife, Elsie Hamilton. He had married Elsie in 1942.
Her marriage with Freddie was officially annulled in April 1964. The singer and her lover, John decided to get married the following month.
Gary, Cissy’s son with Freddie was a professional basketball player
Gary Garland was born in East Orange, New Jersey on October 12th, 1957. He attended Clifford J. Scott High School in Eat Orange and then went to DePaul University. It was in college that Gary became a sensational basketball player with The Blue Devils.
He was later drafted by The Denver Nuggets during the 2nd round (30th pick) of the 1979 NBA Draft and made his debut on October 14, 1979. Unfortunately, he was released by the NBA in 1980 for failing a drug test.
Following his departure from the Denver Nuggets of the NBA in 1980, Garland began to work with Whitney as a background/duet vocalist throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. Moreso, he sang as a background/duet vocalist on Whitney Houston’s Greatest Love Tour in 1986.
By the way, Gary got married to Patricia Watson.
SEE ALSO: Jacklyn Zeman Husbands: Meet The Men She Married And Kids
Cissy and John Russell Houston Jr. Were Married Married for Nearly 3 Decades
John Houston Jr. was born on September 13, 1920, in Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey, USA to his parents John Russell Houston Sr. and Sarah Elizabeth Collins Houston.
As earlier stated, Cissy and John tied the knot after Cissy’s divorce from Freddie was finalized in April 1964.
When he first met Cissy, John Houston Jr., a World War II veteran, was operating a cab and truck.
He later entered the entertainment business managing his nieces-in-law’s vocal group, the Gospelaires, in 1959.
Similarly, after his wife formed The Sweet Inspirations, John served as their manager until Houston left the group in 1969 to start her own solo career.
The couple’s relationship faired well until John faced and survived a near-fatal heart attack in 1976. Following the incident, John and Cissy’s marriage turned strained, and by 1977, they agreed to legally separate, though they remained legally married until 1991.
Moving on, John married Barbara Peggy Houston and their union was blessed with a daughter named Alana. John and Barbara’s union was sustained till John’s passing on 2 February 2003, aged 82.
At the time of his death, he was survived by his 2nd wife, Barbara Peggy Houston, and their daughter, Alana. Also to mount him were his kids with different women namely, John III, Michael, Whitney, and Hamilton his eldest son from his former union with Elsie. He also had eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren at the time of his death.
More About John Russell Houston’s Kids With Cissy
As previously stated, John had 2 kids with his former wife, Cissy Houston. His first child with Cissy is Michael who is a songwriter and road manager. More so his second child with Cissy is Whitney Elizabeth Houston who was an iconic American singer and actress also known as “the Voice”. She became one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with over 220 million records sold worldwide.
Growing up, Whitney would sing in church, in the clubs with her mum, and in high school. After becoming a pro in 1981, she was among the first black women to feature on the cover of Seventeen after becoming a teen model.
Her first two studio albums, Whitney Houston (1985) and Whitney (1987) are among the best-selling albums of all time and both reached number one on the Billboard 200.
She also made her acting debut with the romantic thriller film The Bodyguard (1992), Moreso, the soundtrack of the movie won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and remains the bestselling soundtrack album of all time.
In the 1980s, Houston was romantically associated with actor Eddie Murphy, restaurateur Brad Johnson, American football player Randy Cunningham, and musician Jermaine Jackson.
Afterward, she went to the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards and met R&B artist Bobby Brown. On July 18, 1992, the two got married following a three-year romance. The couple’s only child, daughter Bobby Kristina Brown, was born on March 4, 1993, in Houston.
Unfortunately, in December 2003, Brown was charged with battery following an altercation during which he threatened to beat Whitney. Their relationship continued to deteriorate until their divorce was finalized on April 24, 2007. About 5 years after her divorce, Whitney died on February 11, 2012, aged 48.
