Whitney Houston's mother Cissy writing memoir on her daughter

Cissy and Whitney Houston in 2010

Credit: AP Photo

NEW YORK (AP) — Whitney Houston's triumphant, heartbreaking life is being remembered in a book by her mother, singer Cissy Houston.

Houston has a deal with HarperCollins for a memoir it says will reveal the "unabridged and unbelievable story" of her Grammy Award-winning daughter, who died in a Beverly Hills, Calif., hotel bathtub in February at age 48. HarperCollins announced Monday that the currently untitled book is scheduled to come out next February.

"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 Houston 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.

Financial terms haven't been disclosed. But a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, N.J., where Whitney Houston, whose many hits included "The Greatest Love of All" and "I Will Always Love You," sang as a child and where her funeral was held. Cissy Houston had met with several publishers, and the book deal could be worth seven figures.

According to HarperCollins, Cissy Houston will write with "candor, honesty and respect" about her daughter's remarkable career and about her drug problems and her marriage to Bobby Brown. Cissy Houston also will reflect on her own grief.

"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 announced.

"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."

Cissy Houston recently released a new album of gospel tunes, her first new music in more than a decade. "Walk on By Faith" was released by Harlem Records on iTunes last month and includes songs such as "Living Shall Not Be In Vain."

She wrote a memoir, "How Sweet the Sound," in 1998.

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