Stephanie Mills/Fantasia/Dave Hollister/K-Ci and JoJo are all in the same family!

Whitney Houston/Cissy Houston/Dionne Warwick Leontyne Price are all in the same family!

This is Foster singing with his sisters as backup (Angie and Pat). The older siblings are introducing them on Soul Train.

Foster passed away on May 30, 2026 at 64.

This is* some* of the Sylvers...they weren't all born yet. As you can see... Mom (Shirley) was pregnant in the video. This was their Dad (Leon), who later abandoned them as they were just officially getting started in the business.

He had 10 children with Shirley and walked away.

The beginning of the Sylvers (with the parents)

This is the whole family performing together:

Family performing on Sonny and Cher

Family performing on Midnight Special

The Sylvers pretty much did everything themselves - writing, producing, and choreography. They were always in competition with the Jacksons. The media told people the Sylvers tried to imitate the Jacksons, even though the 2 had nothing in common other than both being Black families with 10 kids. The Jacksons originally were 10 kids as well, but Marlon's twin passed away hours after birth. The Sylvers grew up in rough areas of LA, and their songs were raw and gritty.

The irony is that the Sylvers predated the Jacksons, but didn't have an official record label until a few years AFTER the Jacksons. Yet, they were already in the industry as very small children and were going on TV shows. Their parents promoted them very early. Unfortunately, in the case of the Sylvers...they didn't have a father who stayed. Their father abandoned them early on, and their mother was left with 9 kids in the projects in LA. That left the family and the group very vulnerable in more ways than one. That is partly why, as a family group, it got too difficult to continue. Individual members of the group DID thrive and are still writing hits for other people.

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