I'm incredibly sad to hear of Don Cornelius' death by gunshot wound to the head, apparently self-inflicted today, He helped put soul music on the map and introduced and influenced such artists as The Jackson 5, MJ, James Brown, Aretha Franklin and countless others. He also helped launch the careers of dancers who never would have had the opportunity. Bringing soul music and black artists into the living rooms of white America, Cornelius helped to bridge the race gap through music.
An interesting note, Michael Jackson said that he watched James Brown perform on Soul Train and that influenced his dancing. If you're a fan of both, like myself, you can easily see how that's true. Each man conducted the band with his body because he so fully felt his music. So, I guess it's easy to say that without Soul Train there may not have been a Michael Jackson or a moonwalk.
"Soul Train" is the longest-running nationally syndicated show in history, on air from 1971 through 2006. Cornelius was the host before stepping away in 1993. He stayed on as the program's executive producer and expanded "Soul Train" into an annual awards show.
Fame will always bring problems, have we not learned that yet? Cornelius had his fair share of legal problems with multiple accusations of domestic violence against his ex wife and within the last few years. I can only speculate that these legal difficulties and the rocky break-up of his marriage are the reasons behind this alleged suicide, though I'm interested in learning more. When and if I learn it's more than that, I will update this review. Side note: the +5 is only for his influence on American music and TV, obviously not for the alleged abuse against his wife (that would be a -infinity!) or him as a person, I never met him so I can't properly judge him.
I remember growing up to Soul Music and I lived for watching the guest stars sing their hearts out while I danced my butt off in my living room. I will never forget Cornelius' voice, signing off with..."as always, Peace, Love and Soul." May you enjoy the Soul Train ride in the sky, Don, and peace, love and soul to you, always.
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Butterfly1961March 21, 2012
I watched Soul Train every Saturday when I was a kid -- sorry to hear about his death. And this was an excellent write up Sam.
djevokeApril 08, 2012
Thanks Brenda, I did the same thing! I used to dance along to Soul Train when I was a little girl. No one could throw a dance party like the Don.
What do you get when you fall in love? You only get a lot of pain and sorrow... Who sang that decades ago?
djevokeFebruary 09, 2012
Well, there's a TON or people who sang the song. It's called "I'll Never Fall in Love Again". The artists range from Burt Bacharach to Dionne Warwick to Elvis Costello to Mary Chapin Carpenter...so take your pick ;p
Wow. That's rotten to hear. I don't believe in killing myself, instead, I rather kill who's getting on my nerves.
djevokeFebruary 03, 2012
I don't believe in suicide. I think it's truly the most selfish act you can do in this world. I would rather just realize that tomorrow's another day and when that doesn't work, slap whoever's on your nerves across the face. That helps lol. I don't know about killing because I don't want to be stuck in jail for the rest of my life.
MadpenguinFebruary 03, 2012
It definitely is selfish. I know too many families who had to deal with it, and those folks have no idea how much they hurt everyone when they go and pull it off.
Jail doesn't scare me. It's full of people. Not lions and tigers.
djevokeFebruary 03, 2012
Oh my! I've had some personal experiences with it as well and no one ever thinks about the people they're leaving behind. Wow, you're learning a lot about me today, I just noticed that LOL
When people discuss his legacy there are important aspects they left out. His show created a vehicle for product advertising for many things geared towards African Americans, especially in haircare. Many of these businesses had no other television outlet to advertise.
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Jail doesn't scare me. It's full of people. Not lions and tigers.