Don Cornelius Gave Us a Venue to Express Our Musical Expressions

"Don Cornelius was an icon among African Americans and among Americans...his idea to promote some of the greatest talent in American history spanned over three decades.  I know it was something that I looked forward to every Saturday.  Don became a part of many homes in America and he will be sorely missed.  As the story unfolds, please pray for his family and thank them for sharing their loved one life with us for so many years.  R.I.P."  _TheAfricanAmericanNetwork.blogspot.com

Source:  Verne Gay, 

Don Cornelius is dead in an apparent suicide, TMZ and The Associated Press are reporting. The 75-year-old creator of "Soul Train" shot himself to death Wednesday morning at his Los Angeles home, police said.

"Soul Train" had a vast and lasting influence on pop culture, and seeded -- or at least seeded the idea -- of MTV. (There were many MTV fathers, certainly, but he was one of 'em.) 

MORE NEWS: 'Soul Train' host Don Cornelius dies | Tom Joyner on Cornelius, 'Soul Train'

PHOTOS: Don Cornelius through the years | Recent notable deaths

He was a tastemaker who tasted everything, from Motown to R&B, and taught generations of kids to dance, or try to dance, or try to move.

"Soul Train" ran for decades, and thus, influenced not just one of those generations, but a couple. It aired from '71 to the mid-2000s, and may still be going on in some iteration for all I know. The Soul Train Awards, are of course,  still continuing. This was the urban "American Bandstand," and Don, the urban -- and more urbane -- Dick Clark, to whom he was so often compared. 

Here's a clip, showing Cornelius at the outset, doing what he always did -- introducing acts, and so much more. After this, a clip of Gladys Knight getting the Soul Train lifetime achievement award last year, crediting -- among many -- Cornelius ("I thank you from the bottom of my heart..."). OK, having some technical difficulties with that clip, as we say in the trade, but do check out this old Cornelius interview with James Brown. And you'll definitely want to go here to read Tom Joyner's good appraisal of "Soul Train" and Cornelius.