Soul Train's Don Cornelius Dead at 75

                  The scene outside Don Cornelius' Sherman Oaks, CA home this morning.

This certainly a below average kickoff to Black History Month. Today we learn that we lost a big part of that history with the tragic death of Soul Train creator, Don Cornelius at age 75.

One official account reports that a family member arrived at his Mulholland Drive home in Encino this morning and found Don with a "gunshot wound to the head that appeared to be self-inflicted", according to  Los Angeles County assistant chief coroner, Ed Winter. Authorities stressed Cornelius' apparent 'suicide' is being investigated by the LA Police Department and the L.A. County coroner's office. This makes sense for three reasons.

First, he had just gone through a painful divorce. While it is not uncommon for people to suffer severe depression, even resulting in suicide attempts, another way people cope with that depression is to plunge themselves into their work or a new project. Interestingly enough, as recent as last year, in an interview with the LA Times, Cornelius said he was excited about a movie project he was developing about "Soul Train."

"We've been in discussions with several people about getting a movie off the ground. It wouldn't be the 'Soul Train' dance show, it would be more of a biographical look at the project," he said. "It's going to be about some of the things that really happened on the show," Cornelius reported.

“Soul Train” had become the longest-running first-run nationally syndicated show in television history, bringing African American music and style to the world for 35 years. Inspired by Dick Clark's “American Bandstand,” he created the show to showcase black music. The former disc jockey introduced it on WCIU, a small Chicago UHF station, in 1970. It went into syndication within one short year as a result of its popularity with Chicago urbanites, and moved to Hollywood shortly thereafter. The show quickly crossed cultures and broke racial barriers by attracting white pop artists such as David Bowie, Michael McDonald and KC and the Sunshine Band,

The Who's Who of Motown appeared with Don on Soul Train. Don's thoughtful and insightful interviews in that rich, soothing, bass voice were as important to the show (and its audience) as the performances themselves. We remember Don's legacy through precious moments like this one:

Click on these links to share some magical music memories with Don and James Brown,  Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson,  Stevie Wonder,  Marvin Gaye,  Kool and the Gang,  The O'Jays,  Minnie Ripperton, Janet Jackson,  Rick James,  Al Green,  The Temptaions,  Joe Tex,  Eddie Kendricks,  Paula Abdul,  Curtis Mayfield,   Rose Royce,  David Ruffin,  The Isley Brothers,  The Jackson 5,  Shirley Brown,  The Dells,  The Sylvers,  Mariah Carey,  Staple Singers,  Gladys Knight and even up and coming black comics like Richard Pryor.

Cornelius left as show host, but continued to produce the show through Soul Train Holding LLC and Don Cornelius Productions until 2006. He made his last public appearance at the 2009 BET Awards to present The O'Jays with the 2009 BET Lifetime Achievement Award. This was the year after he sold his Soul Train rights to MadVision Entertainment. The show leaving the air has not dampened the enthusiasm of its viewers, however. The Soul Train video channel has over 900,000 views, over 26 million uploads views and almost 30,000 subscribers!

Don did not only spotlight recording artists. The Soul Train Dancers were not only a chance for young dancers to gain exposure for their careers but influenced many of the pop culture dance shows that followed: Living Color, Fox's So You Think You Can Dance? and MTV's America’s Best Dance Crew.

The weekly line dancing by the Soul Train audience, the first of it's kind since the American Bandstand "Stroll Line", not only gave young people a chance to show their dance skills but was also a way to keep up with the latest fashion trends. No torn jeans, underdrawers hanging out, tee shirts and sneakers for this crowd. LA's Melrose shopping district thrived with all the young adults looking for the sheik styles they had seen on Soul Train the previous week.

It is hard to accept that someone who was in the planning stages of taking their brainchild, dream and labor of love to the next level... the Silver Screen... could suddenly decide to see that dream die with a single pistol shot. After all, if one's depression deepened to such a point to consider one taking one's own life, wouldn't one of their closest friends have some awareness of his mental state? According to the Associated Press, close friend and collaborator, Quincy Jones was quoted as saying,  “I am shocked and deeply saddened at the sudden passing of my friend, colleague and business partner Don Cornelius.” The only logical conclusion is not even his closest friends saw this coming. Quincy was shocked? So are the more distant admirers who became accustomed to him closing his show for 35 years with the words, “... 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!” 

Secondly, there appear to be conflicting reports on how the incident was reported. The LA Times reported a family member "discovered" Don's lifeless body on the floor when they arrived this morning. Unless they had a key, it's unlikely in this day and age, the well-to-do Don would have left the house unlocked in the increasingly higher crime area near Sherman Oaks. The New York Times, however, reported the incident  differently:

"...'A person called the police from Mr. Cornelius’s house on Mulholland Drive in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood just before 4 a.m. and reported shots had been fired', a police spokesman, Chris No, said. When officers arrived, they were let into the house and found Mr. Cornelius lying lifeless on the floor with a gunshot wound to the head that appeared to be self-inflicted..."

The first report refers to a family member casually arriving to find the body. The other, refers to an "unnamed  person" calling police after hearing shots fired at 4am. There is an unresolved paradox between these two accounts no one has yet to explain. His admirers and his family, I'm sure will look forward to that discrepancy to become clearer as the alleged investigation continues. Authorities somehow have already apparently ruled out "foul play"... Yet,  have not found a suicide note. The LA Police report family members are being questioned about his recent mental health. With two ex-wives and only two known children surviving him, Anthony and Raymond (from his first marriage to Delores Harrison), that shouldn't take very long.

Perhaps his second wife, Victoria Avila-Cornelius, the Russian lady who filed domestic violence charges and multiple restraining orders against him to ultimately have him removed from the beautiful home he provided might have some useful information. I'm sure all involved will urge the police to follow through on their investigation. Though Don's estate may be sizable, insurance companies don't pay off on suicide.

The last reason to call into question this tragic loss of an "American treasure" as Aretha Franklin so aptly referred to Don, many don't know that Donald Cortez Cornelius, after high school, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served in Korea. There are few who would question that the United States Marines produce heroes, not cowards. Psychiatrists access suicide as a cowardly act. To most, that would seem to suggest an unfitting ending for a war hero.

He had survived a 21-hour brain operation in 1982 to correct a congenital malformation in blood vessels in his brain. While he was plagued by health problems in the last 30 years of his life, why give up now when it would have been so much less stressful to do so thirty years ago?

In an ironic twist, this proud African-American icon, who had done so much to gain exposure for talented young black artists, boost their careers, contribute so much to Black culture and serve as a role model for so many struggling young Black men would choose this day, the first day we celebrate National Black History Month to send a different message to all those he worked to inspire over the years.

Those that doubt his influence or lack of concern for the black community, need only watch this 3-minute clip from his 1974 interview with James Brown, featuring a 19-year old, hopeful Al Sharpton.  Don set an example for all youth of how a young man can go from working as a starving insurance salesman, scrape up $400 for a broadcasting course, land a part-time job as an announcer, newsman and DJ on a low-wattage local radio station (WVON in 1966) and build a global entertainment empire. That he would choose this day to throw in the towel is, perhaps, the most perplexing aspect of Don's 'suicide'.   

                                                Don Cornelius in much lighter times

Though some may think this video is in poor taste at this time, it is the way we prefer to remember Don: Jovial, witty and the creative mind that could even make old age and the Grim Reaper into a comedy sketch. Many of the millions of his fans of Soul Train aren't willing to accept him going out the way he 'chose' this morning. We fans hope the Los Angeles Police aren't quick to accept it, either.

 
Don Cornelius was, indeed, a star in every sense of the word. He will be missed. We only hope that unlike so many unsolved and mysterious deaths in Los Angeles, where too often such cases are quickly 'filed and forgotten'  (Natalie Wood, Marilyn Monroe, Lenny Breau) or killers roam free because because they know they can get away with murder in Hollywood (Nicole Brown Simpson, Bonny Lee Bakley), the police will do their due diligence to verify that such a man, that still had so much to live for, chose not to.

RIP, Don

Respectfully written and submitted in honor of Don Cornelius' lifetime of achievement,

Bill Farkas