Soul Train Host Don Cornelius Dead Of Suicide

With the announcement of Don Cornelius' death, his name and Soul Train are becoming the top rising search on the internet on sites like Google and YouTube.  Don Cornelius, creator of Soul Train, died early yesterday morning of an apparent suicide.

LAPD officers were responding to reports of a shooting when they found Don, age 75, dead at his home around 4:00am.  He was pronounced dead of a self inflicted gun-shot wound about an hour later.

One could argue that Don's creation of Soul Train helped bring down the racial barriers in the US back in the 70's & 80's.  Giving America a look into black culture, it's music, and life-style.

Funny as I sit here typing that, I can't even imagine it.  Our time really is different from that of our parents and grand-parents.  As I typed "bring down racial barriers" I almost laughed, as racial barriers really aren't something we see anymore.  Black, white, brown or whatever, we see it all in our day to day lives.  Black people that are rich and successful is just common these days and we don't even stop to think about what went on in the past. Sorry to get all deep on you, it just hit me as I typed, didn't mean to get all emotional on you.  Just goes to show we really do live in an exciting time.  American's are more unified then ever, but we're still tearing ourselves apart.  Just some food for thought. Don knew this, maybe that was another reason behind his suicide.

But, for those that knew, the reason is clear and the suicide almost doesn't come as a shock.  In his later years, Cornelius had a troubled marriage.  In 2009, he was sentenced to three years' probation after pleading no contest to misdemeanor spousal battery.  In his divorce case that year, he also mentioned having significant health issues.

As the day passes, the search continues and is impacting YouTube which has taken the time to put together some great interviews from Don's run in the 70's & 80's from his channel that you can watch here.

A famous saying that Don himself knew all to well, the show must go on.