Soul Train has left the station

[URY914]

LOS ANGELES --
Don Cornelius, creator of the long-running TV dance show "Soul Train," shot himself to death Wednesday morning at his home, police said. He was 75.

Officer responding to a report of a shooting found Cornelius at his Mulholland Drive home at around 4 a.m., police said.

He was pronounced dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at 4:56 a.m. at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said Los Angeles County Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter.

"Soul Train" began in Chicago as a local program in 1970 and aired nationally from 1971 to 2006. It brought the best R&B, soul and later hip-hop acts to TV and had teenagers dance to them. It was one of the first shows to showcase African-Americans prominently, although the dance group was racially mixed. Cornelius was the first host and executive producer.

The Soul Train Awards plan to return to the air after a two-year hiatus to recognize those who helped shape R&B music.

Record executive Antonio "L.A." Reid, singers Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds, Chaka Khan and Charlie Wilson will be honored on the two-hour music special to be taped in Atlanta.

The awards are scheduled to air Nov. 29 on Centric — a new channel jointly operated by the BET and MTV Networks divisions of Viacom.

Actors Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard will co-host the awards first started by Don Cornelius, the creator of the syndicated music show "Soul Train."

The last awards show was held in 2007 in California.

[12own911]

Godspeed Soul dude

[emcon5]

I liked Fark's headline better.

"Don Cornelius starts Black History month off with a bang"

[peppy]

I used too love that show....well I liked to watch Cheryl Song dance.

RIP Don, Peace Love and Soul

[asphaltgambler]

A little history..........Don was actually a police officer in his youth. He stopped a Guy who happened to be a radio personality for WVON for a traffic violation. Guy immediately notices Don's voice and inflection. After signing the ticket, he tells him to come down to the radio station and audition, that he is wasting his talent.

Don does audition and is offered a job initially as an announcer. That's how he got started

[VincentVega]

Before my time, but this looks like fun



RIP

[URY914]

His interviews were terrible.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by peppy

I used too love that show....well I liked to watch Cheryl Song dance.

RIP Don, Peace Love and Soul

+ Infinity

[Baz]

I loved this show.

When I went out to disco lounges in the 70's and 80's I'd always tried to dance smooth and cool like a brother would.... Those were some interesting times indeed!

[asphaltgambler]

He was a terrible interviewer; but I thought it then was because he was too cool to be 'chatty' with the performers.

[Rot 911]

I wiled away many a Saturday afternoon watching that show in the '70's.