Cissy Houston, acclaimed gospel singer and mother to the late music icon Whitney Houston, will publish a revealing memoir about her daughter's life to be released next February, publisher HarperCollins announced today.
The memoir, which is currently untitled, will tell Whitney's "unabridged and unbelievable" story from the perspective of her beloved mother.
"When I lost my daughter Nippy (Whitney Houston's nickname), the world lost one of the most beautiful voices and an extraordinarily beautiful and charitable woman," Cissy said in a statement released by HarperCollins. "In sharing our story in this book, I hope to give her fans something to treasure, the way we all treasured Whitney. We are still receiving thousands of letters each day from her fans, and I hope reading this book will provide a deeper understanding into my daughter's true story."
HarperCollins described the book, which is planned for release near the first anniversary of Whitney's death as a dramatic and humanizing account of her tragic and extraordinary life.

"She will tell the unabridged and unbelievable story of her daughter's life as well as her own, addressing Whitney's brightest and darkest moments while helping fans around the world understand the complexities of this extraordinary star who died much too soon," the publisher said.

"Ultimately, Cissy will go behind the headlines to show the true, human side of this strong, successful yet complicated musical icon, capturing the dramatic depths and soaring range of an extraordinary woman, along with the pain and heartbreak of a grieving mother as she struggles with impossible loss."

The memoir won't be Cissy's first. The Grammy-winning gospel singer published another memoir, How Sweet the Sound, in 1998. Last month, she released the four-song EP Walk on by Faith on Harlem Records. It was her first music release in over a decade.

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(Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)