'Soul Train' host Don Cornelius dies in apparent suicide

The pioneering media mogul, 75, was found dead in his Sherman Oaks, Calif., home Wednesday morning. He was pronounced dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at 4:56 a.m. at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, according to the Los Angeles County coroner's office.

Bun B

God bless Don Cornelius. Soul Train was often imitated but never duplicated. Staple of millions of homes on Saturday mornings.

Chris Payne

..while others watched American Bandstand, my Mother and I hung out w/ Soul Train. This news saddens us. Thank you...

Carolina A. Miranda

To mourn the death of Don Cornelius, I think @Guggenheim should let us do world's longest Soul Train line down the museum ramps.

Brandon W. Mudd

Watched Soul Train when I was a kid on Saturday mornings. Remember thinking Don Cornelius had the best voice ever. Peace, love and SOUL.

Kyla Tillery

.@shalandreah I watched my mother dance for years on Soouuullll Trraaiiinnn. RIP Don Cornelius.

Tananarive Due

A lot of great artists came through "Soul Train," and all of us were great dancers...in our minds. RIP Don Cornelius.

chris douridas

Growing up in Chicago in the '70s, i was religious about @SoulTrain. Thank you #DonCornelius for the education.

"I am shocked and deeply saddened at the sudden passing of my friend, colleague, and business partner Don Cornelius," said Quincy Jones in a statement. "Don was a visionary pioneer and a giant in our business. Before MTV, there was Soul Train, that will be (his) great legacy. … His contributions to television, music and our culture as a whole will never be matched. My heart goes out to Don's family and loved ones."

The Rev. Al Sharpton said he was shocked and grief-stricken.

"I have known him since I was 19 years old and James Brown had me speak on Soul Train," Sharpton said in a statement from New York. "He brought soul music and dance to the world in a way that it had never been shown and he was a cultural game changer on a global level."

Cornelius developed his brainchild while working as a journalist and DJ in Chicago. Soul Train started in 1970 as a daily after-school dance show on WCIU and it was supported by such local acts as Curtis Mayfield and The Chi-Lites. The show was sponsored by Johnson Products, makers of Afro Sheen, and with owner George Johnson's help, Cornelius was able to move production to Los Angeles for the weekly syndicated show that premiered in 1971. Stations skeptical of the unproven series were won over when Gladys Knight agreed to do the pilot. Other artists were quick to jump on board.

Cornelius would host the show until 1993. The Train stayed on the tracks for another 13 years with assorted hosts. By the time he sold it to MadVision Entertainment in 2008, he had created an empire that included the Soul Train Music Awards and the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards. 

The show, the longest running, first-run, nationally syndicated program in television history, was rife with iconic elements. There was the Soul Train line in which pairs of dancers popped creative dance moves and flashed outrageous fashions on their way down. The Scrabble Board gave two dancers 60 seconds to unscramble the name of a notable African-American entertainer or historical figure.

The dancers became stars in their own right and created moves such as locking, roboting and waacking (later known as voguing) that would be replicated at clubs and parties around the world. Singer Jody Watley and dance partner Jeffrey Daniels, who would become part of the hit-making trio Shalamar, got their start on the show. (Daniels' "backslide" step is credited with influencing Michael Jackson's moonwalk.) So did Rosie Perez (Pineapple Express) and Fred "Rerun" Berry (What's Happening!!).

When it was time to go, the host always reassured viewers with his signature sign-off: "And you can bet your last money, it's all gonna be a stone gas, honey! I'm Don Cornelius, and as always in parting, we wish you love, peace and soul!"

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