The Sweet Inspirations

The Sweet Inspirations are an American R&B girl group from Newark, New Jersey, founded by American singer Cissy Houston. The group was mostly known for their work as backup singers on studio recordings for other popular music artists but were also a relatively successful group in their own right, earning several charted singles between 1967 and 1970. Formed by Houston in 1963 in Newark under the informal title "The Girls", they were the offshoot of a previous group called the Gospelaires, founded by Houston's nieces and future soul stars Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick, along with Sylvia Shemwell. Under Houston's direction, the group would include Shemwell, Myrna Smith and Estelle Brown.