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RIP: ‘Soul Train’ Creator Don Cornelius Dead of Apparent Suicide

The music world is mourning the loss of innovator Don Cornelius, who died of an apparent suicide this morning.

From the NY Daily News:

“Soul Train” creator and host Don Cornelius, who brought R&B into America’s living rooms with his long-running television show, committed suicide Wednesday, according to TMZ.com

The 75-year-old Cornelius was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head around 4 a.m. inside his Sherman Oaks, Calif., home, the celebrity web site reported.

His show, dubbed “The Hippest Trip in America,” presented stars like Smokey Robinson, Aretha Franklin and Barry White to a national television audience.

Cornelius, with his deep voice, stylish clothes and Afro, provided a hipper alternative to Dick Clark and “American Bandstand” when his show debuted on Aug. 17, 1970.

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