Dark Side of Soul: Could THIS Be The Real Reason Soul Train's Don Cornelius Unalived Himself? 

I danced on Soul Train from 1980 to 1985. I enjoyed it very much. To participate down the soul train line you were hand picked. Fortunately I was able to do that too! It was fun and met lots of people. In my early 20’s and in college at the time, it was one of those things you never forget!

As a white kid growing up in rural North Carolina in the 70s I never missed an episode Soul Train. Always great musical guests and of course my favorite part, the Soul Train line dance. Still love watching clips on RU-vid. Great memories.

A Russian model and former adult film star. BM definitely know how to pick the topshelf of preferences/non BW.🤣🤣🤣

Some families still do soul train 🚂 dances at family gatherings because it's something we will never forget RIP, Don Cornelius🪦🌹🕊️

At the age of 15 I got to be on soul train. For a dance contest. It was 1975. It was an experience I will never forget. My dance partner and I. Represented Charlotte North. I was the youngest contestant. The night after the contest. They had dinner for us. At Capitol records. That night was the best. Black people dancing like you've never seen before. They gave us the new theme song stay soft fro kit. We only got two pieces of Kentucky fried Chicken. A Coke and a biscuit. To eat at the taping of the contest show. Best experience of my life I will never forget.

True Fact: Patricia Rushen was a 15 year old Soul Train dancer. More than a decade later, she was up on stage performing "Forget Me Nots".

A place in time that will never seen again. Thank you Mr. Cornelius R.I.P.

As a kid I used to get up and do house chores on Saturday morning with Soul Train on and would finish just in time to catch the start of the Soul Train line about 45 minutes into the show.

Many successful people think that they are invincible and that they can hurt others, but karma has a way of reminding them that the way you treat others determines your outcome!

I loved soul train. People need to realize that entertainers are human & not put them on pedestals.

Don Cornelius did a fantastic job with Soul Train. However , he personal life was a mess. Thanks for Soul Train Don Cornelius. R. I. P. 🙏

Don used to be my aunt’s insurance agent in the 60s before he got on radio in Chicago

I’m 63 and it was one of most favorite tv show to watch never missing . I say Love, Peace,& Soul Don Cornelius RIP ❤️❤️

After all that success gained with his people He turned on us and gave it all to a strange woman who most likely killed him.

I don’t do domestic violence for anyone I lost my mom to it , and I grew up with a mom at the age 8 yrs old I’m 63 now. I very much dislike a woman beater.SMH

I have no respect for anyone who brutalize anyone for sexual pleasures

When I lived in rural Mississippi, the show was the one thing that gave me a glimpse of life outside the Podunk town. I got style tips from watching that show and it made me thirsty to see more of the world. I got to see lots of it. My favorite dancers were Jody, Jeffrey, Demita Joe, and the Chong girl.

Why didn't you marry a African American Queen? They bring you to this country in shame. Then you died in shame and give her everything that God have blessed you with. This is so sad you allow them to use the life out of you...

“Equal Rights,And Equal Lefts” LOL 😂 😂😂😂😂

There’s nothing wrong with sex, as we all know, the problem in this melting pot culture is the casual sexual conduct promoted and practiced, which lead’s to promiscuity and infatuation. Anyone who think’s that you can have sexual inter course with someone for superficial reasons and avoid the deeper connections that instantly happens in the act, you’re fooling yourself! Most people in this world today living this way are so far astray from their sanity because of having sex based on superficial things, facial and body appearance, how much material wealth one possess, social clout, etc., but spiritually who they are, you don’t know enough, their mental history, you don’t know enough, and their emotional stability, you don’t know enough…….but your libido and sex drive, you let it drive you straight to misery in the company of demons perhaps. 🤔

I think Spike Lee should do a movie about Don Cornelius

Back in the fabulous 1970's the soul train dancers were so cool by the way they were dancing 😎

Love, Peace & Soul-long. Thanks for the memories. RIP Mr. Don Cornelius.

This what happens when you replace God with a whyte woman.🤨

She did what she intended to do! Take him for all he had….tragic

Rt after the news broke abt his death, DON’s son was interviewed & he was the one who told THE WHOLE TRUTH & nothing but the truth about his father’s death. Don’s son said that his father, when realizing his days were numbered, decided he did NOT want his current wife to have the lion’s share of his estate 🤑 So, Don figured that if he offed himself SHE would NOT benefit from the life insurance🤑 Well. that may have been the case IF he had been married to a BW but not to A BECKY. In the case of Becky -vs- DC THE JUDGE SAID THE BEOTCH CAN GET IT ALL. (yt women have a whole system backing them so Don was out of his league & didn’t even know it) R.I.P.

The most dangerous diseases are the ones we can't see,until its to late,novelty do wears off! 🙏🕊🕊

Don took the coward way out because the demons & skeletons in his closet had closed in on him.

I'm 53 and grew up watching this show Soul Train and still do watch soul train to this day.🔥❤️ Rest in peace Mr.Don Cornelius.☮️❤️

Imagine if black ppl focused more on industrial business medical field agriculture etc other than entertainment and dancing around for everyone , Where we would be now ?? Yes I know we are a musical ppl but that was handed in hand with the spiritual part of us which we did not integrate into most our music creating an unbalanced mess we call hip hop today smh wish I had a time machine to warn these fools

his downfall was them yt women

Nobody is perfect. R.I.P Don you made a difference in Black people lives throughout the world. Thanks so much. Much Love!

Love me some Soul Train. Every Saturday morning so looked forward to seeing Soul Train. Omgoodness good old days.

Becky drained him like a vampire with a doctorate in how to separate a mark from his assets. Checkmate.

Love,Peace and Soul ❤️✌️🎶

I love Soul Train for what it represented & what it did for the culture. I beam with pride & want to get up & dance anytime I watch those clips from the 70s, 80s, & 90s (it's heyday). It is the ultimate culture time capsule! That being said, I watched the A&E Playboy documentary when it premiered last year & when that episode ended, my jaw was still on the floor in shock It's just disappointing when you have these figures you once respected, attached to this piece of art you've loved & practically raised you since birth, unmasked. I never would've expected that from the person we thought we knew all those years; inviting him into our living room every Saturday morning, but the same could be said about Bill Cosby I believe every word of it as a lot of attitudes about the treatment of women have progressed some, but not enough--and knowing the 70s, it was downright dinosaur territory. Women's Lib was just bubbling to the surface, so I'm sure the mentality of men of that generation was to strike while the iron is hot (for a lack of a better term) Many of our "heroes" of a certain age often ran together. They had money, power, & access. I shutter to think of how many more of these stories are out there that haven't come to light or the women who have gone to their graves knowing no one would believe them

The curse of needin that Becky

Don IS a LEGEND and I LOVE the term Melanin deficient for American bandstand crowd 👍🏿

I think i heard the day he committed suicide he had found out i think a few days eariler he was diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimers

I don't know what I was going through all those years ago that I do not remember any of this. I don't even remember that he committed suicide. I really started to feel bad for him for his bad choices but I really have no sympathy for someone who abused young women so badly. I guess he was used to getting away with things until he got old and then he couldn't get away with it anymore.

Still a Icon you can't take that away from Don C he did a great movement for black culture

Well, we see Don was a capitalist and flawed (though not mutually exclusive). We also see the determination to destroy a Black man’s legacy with stories of bad behavior seldom revealed about his White contemporaries. Yes, fried chicken payment is straight capitalist. We are also sure there would have been greater perversion at-of all places-the Playboy Mansion, that remains under wraps for the WM. Let Don rest. Let Michael rest. Who’s next?

Smh! All that money went straight back to white society through his ex wife.

I like the part when Don Cornelius said you can bet your last money it's gonna be a stone gas honey

I know Michael Jackson loved being on Soul Train back then ‼️‼️

Talent will take you where Character cannot keep you ..

The problem was this woman 👠 here. They gave her some everything. This is why we should date our own people.

Seemed like the older he got, the more unhappy & miserable he looked. The divorce & health issues were one thing. I believe the deadly blow was his loss of relevance in the business. I don't think he left Soul Train voluntarily. He may have been bought out or forced out because he was visibly getting old and slipping. Hollywood is a predator's paradise, including predators with money. They eventually pay the price.

I met Don Cornelius in person in Chicago and his voice sounded so unreal it sounded as if it was being projected from a speaker somewhere in the room!

As a kid in the fabulous 1970's watching soul train on Saturday afternoon after Fat Albert cartoons was definitely a treat. My cousin Angela would yell out the door to us "The Soooooooouuuuul Train" then we would all run into the house to watch a house of some great dancing and singing 🤗

This is why I'll never let someone borrow my car again. My ex let her brother drive my car and he ended up running from the police and tore my shit up. I was pissed asf, especially when I found out he tried hiding my car at a car wash

Sad snowflakes will ruin your life

It’s hard to believe a man with that big of an ego killed himself! 😢

This dude was doing some wicked and foul @hit to women in the playboy mansion. Watch the playboy documentary

I met Don Cornelius at Chicago's black expo in 1973

He may have wanted to live a private life, but beating people up and treating them like trash, always gets out to the public. And if you’re a celebrity, you can multiply the public attention. So I guess you could say that he was his own worse enemy. It’s hard not to think that he got what he deserved.

To this day, i believe someone killed him😪.

Two of his life insurance policies only equated to $300k?! My dad left me more than that and he was a regular blue collar man 😅. Also now that I hear these allegations, and as a former Playboy Bunny myself, I see these BM who marry WW are doing us BW a favor by leaving us alone.

I miss shows like Soul Train, BET Video Soul, MTV & VH 1 Music Videos. Hoping what's being stated about Don Cornelius isn't true.

So disappointed "American Soul" didn’t get another season

So you could say that Don's life in the end was a "soul train wreck" ? RIP and thank you Mr Cornelius for all the joy, fun, and happiness that you brought to so many of us with your ingenuity.

I loved Soul Train. Lived for the train to pick up some moves. Thank you for teaching me how to dance 💃 😀 I am a white 60 yr old woman and always knew my jam. Great music and times.

My opinion is he killed himself because you reap what you sow. Never think you are going to get away with doing people wrong in the end you will pay the price God's saw fit to allow him to bust hell wide open. In the Limelight he portrayed to be pro-black but still married Becky and she showed her true. colors.

Wow he didn't pay the dancers that worked on Soul Train. So his reaping came in the form of his ex-wife.

He was legend for black people, soul train was in many homes, but also the darkness of this man ,if true was horrible

To anyone else who is suffering from an addiction, depression or simply feel that everyday life is too much to bear, just know that there are professionals available 24/7. With the support of family and friends, your situation becomes their situation, and together you ALL will make it better. Just remember that taking your life will also rip the "SOUL" out of people that you truly love. One day at time........ R.I.P Mr. Don Cornelius

This voice sounds like Nia Long! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👊🏾❤️

Imagine growing up watching and dancing along w/ Soul Train to actually meeting, dancing and working w/ D.C. Spending hours in the studio; even having the opportunity to kick it @ his crib on several occasions. I witnessed the power of D.C first hand and learned a lot! I saw his work ethic and negotiating skills. From my perspective, he was a major bootstrapper, a person who was sure of himself and one who expected the best from those in his production. I can attest to the severe migraines he would have to the point that it would lay him down. I coudn't help but admire his hustle. To endure, or sometimes not, music emanating forth through overhead studio speakers.He dropped alot of jewels to learn from. Definitely a trail blazer and an american soul story. Rest on Big Wolf!

Cartoons first with cereal. Then cleaning the house a little before Soul Train came on. Waiting for the BBQ man. Good days.

This is what you risk when you mess with Snow Bunny's🥶

For the last reasons you stated is why he unalived himself. He wasn't a good man at all.... and for all of that to come up, he wasn't tryna stick around for that.

No matter who you are, karma has ways of catching up with you. So be careful how you treat other people, you just may see it come back to YOU.

I think Orlando Jones could play him

The devil came fo that soul he sold, derailed his train

It's really ironic to me how everyone can speak about what every black man here is playboy but no one speaks about Is Hugh

What s sick freak. What he did to those Sisters, was pure evil !!!

I don’t think he unalived himself. But that is my opinion.

I do not at all minimize Don's sins. But we are all human. I acknowledge his horrendous faults, but I also will always remember him as one who help to put our music in the mainstream. He was human, and therefore far from perfect.

I’ve always found it problematic that he didn’t pay the dancers. I watched the series and Don obviously fought to get his big break, so if you get a chance to empower your race… people who look like you and have the same dreams as you…why not do it? The older I got and once I realized what a messy awful man he was, my admiration for him diminished. Yes, he made a significant contribution to black culture but he also took a dump on it in other ways. 😢

Don was a freak.... mad sugar in his tank... I met him back in the early 80s while living in Pasadena at the time. My spirit picked it up immediately. I just rudely dissed myself from his presence.

Brother, Don was laid to rest by The Most High; Deuteronomy 7:3-4, Sirach 6;13 speaks volumes for those hard at hearing...no? Look what happened to Tiger Woods, OJ Simpson, etc. God is not mocked.

What did he expect? To live happily ever after with aporn star

Don Cornelius' "Soul Train" was right up there with Dick Clark's "American Band Stand." Both shows heavily influenced American entertainment and changed our pop culture. Black people used to get overly excited when "Soul Train" was about to air! My family would receive numerous phone calls: "Soul Train" is coming on! My entire family would sit before the TV and watch with excitement as Don Cornelius opened the show with his smooth and silky voice. We watched in awe as those fantastic dancers tore up the dance floor! Our hearts would sink as Don closed the show with: LOVE, PEACE AND SOOOUL!!! Damn I forgot so much about my childhood wonders! Thank you Don for bringing great pleasure to my childhood and showing the world that Black is beautiful! May you rest forever in God's eternal peace. 🙏🙏🙏

This story is mind blowing. I wish Don stayed with the culture, especially in Don's Era; when black 🖤 women were alot stronger mentally. No disrespect to other cultures but treat black folks right if they treasure you as someone they love. Don't vulture 🦅 you're way in for a meal🍴ticket 🎫. R.i.p Don Cornelius 🕊

I miss Soul Train. The guest artists were, almost always some of my favorite groups and solo singers. I remember getting home from a hot dates and turning the TV on to hear, Gladys Knight and the Pips, among many others. This was a part of some of the best years of my life, and a couple of the worst years. RIP Don Cornelius. I have often wondered if he was related to The Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose. I guess not.

As a child we only had one TV in the house. I use to cry when I couldn't watch "love peace & soul".

SOUL TRAIN STARTED IN CHI-TOWN AN DON WAS A POLICE IN THE CHI....🚨💃🕺

Don married his karma

He was the Uncle that came on Thanksgiving, making the woman feel uncomfortable lol

By 2006 Soul Train was a shell of itself. His exwife is a devil. He had issues.

What ever happened to the American Soul series on the BET network 🤔

Brothers. Do better.

I couldn't wait to watch Soul Train back in the 70s after the Saturday morning cartoons were over of course. Just seeing all of those young Black people free and dancing and enjoying themselves made me wish I was part of it. It was a great thrilling time brought to you by the one and only cool Don Cornelius. But it really doesn't surprise me hearing about the dark stories about him, after all he is just a human being corrupted by power, sadly.

Soul Train was all I had as an african american growing up that showcased real black heritage and culture and dance. One of the most iconic syndicated shows of its kind ever. I remember all the news surrounding his personal life. His divorce was ugly. Very ugly. It's obvious that he had demons. I'd heard when someone asked him an autograph and he cursed the person out. He could be very mean towards people. Instead of knowing of his alleged sinister dark side, I'd rather remember Don in a positive light in terms of how he single handedly uplifted black culture with his show.

Such a sad ending for such a legend.

Idk if this is true or not but I do know Ever black man that is a celebrity dies a demon.weird

RIP Don Cornelius!

DON COULD WEAR A AFRO♥️♥️♥️♥️

👍🏾Thank you so much for this post. Once I found out about his whyte wife, I was through with him. Thoroughly enjoyed this memory of his undoing, though. Glad to know he got *exactly* what he *wanted* ! Good for him! 😀

Ummm has anyone watched this while you all are reveling in his accomplishments did anyone notice he was a crazy abuser who loved to beat and abuse women? See this is how r kelly got away with this for so long. The Blk community allows this for the sake of nostalgia