Don Cornelius, the creator of Soul Train He was found dead inside the basement of his Sherman Oaks, Calif. home on early on Wednesday morning. TMZ said that the police found Don Cornelius’ body at 4 a.m. PST. He was killed by shooting wounds to his head, which officials think was self-inflicted.
Cornelius was transported to a hospital nearby where his body was declared dead. He was aged 75.
Before his death, the legendary musician was in a tense divorce battle along with ex-wife Russian fashion model, and previous Miss Ukraine, Viktoria Chapman-Cornelius. Viktoria is now receiving around $300,000 of benefits of two policies that life insurance Cornelius owned According to TMZ. The divorce decreed that he named her as the beneficiary.
In accordance with California law If a policyholder takes suicide within 2 years after the policy was issued, the insurer can not pay. However because Cornelius held the policies for longer than two years funds is paid.
Don and Viktoria were married for a long time but had issues. Viktoria became the second wife of Don when they were married in 2001. After six years of marriage, Viktoria declared divorce in 2007. She had obtained two restraining order for her ex-husband, as reported by The Daily Mail.
As of 2008 Cornelius was detained at the Mulholland Drive home under the suspicion that she had committed domestic violence. As per the investigation report she pepper-sprayed him several times.
Then, in November of 2008, the man was in the courtroom, accused of domestic abuse. He was not found guilty, but entering a plea of no contest the following year and He was put on probation for 36 months. He was also told to undergo the 52-week domestic violence treatment program, 300 hours community work, and remain 100 yards from the area where the assault was committed. The three-year probationary period been completed just recently.
The couple was legally divorced in 2009. In the course of final divorce proceedings this the year Don Cornelius had voiced the psychological toll that the relationship had imposed on his life and the decline in his health. He had told the L.A. judge he was struggling with serious health issues and was determined to finish the divorce before he died according to TMZ. Sources informed TMZ that he’d suffered an injury to the brain in recent times and also underwent brain surgery.
Shawn Holley, Don Cornelius attorney and good friend, said to TMZ that this is a devastating news. Don was a gentle hilarious, charming and brilliant person. Despite his numerous illnesses had made him frail, he was lively, courtly and well-educated.
As the news of his death broke the outpouring of sorrow came from fans of the celebrity.
Soul Train changed the landscape of music and television when it premiered in 1971. It brought the opportunity to musicians of color like legendary artists James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Michael Jackson.
It’s truly sad astonishing, shocking and completely shocker… an enormous and profound loss to the African-American community as well as the entire world, Franklin told People magazine.
Quincy Jones said: I am shocked and deeply grieved at the sudden death of my colleague, friend and business associate Don Cornelius. His contributions to the world of music, television and the culture as a whole cannot be duplicated. My heart is with Don’s family and friends.
Don Cornelius has been credited for helping break through racial discrimination in the world of music expanding the appeal of music from black people. Soul Train was a sensation from the beginning in 1971. It was a show children loved, according to Cornelius. Spike Lee has described Soul Train as an urban-oriented musical time capsule.
Don Cornelius and his first wife split before the movie “Soul Train” was launched.
In the words of The New York Times, Don grew up on the South Side of Chicago and was the daughter of a homemaker and postal worker. Once he was of age, Don enlisted in the Marines which he was stationed as a soldier in South Korea and was there for one year and a half.
When he returned in Chicago, The New York Times says that he was an officer in the police force and a salesman. He also got married to his “high-school love,” Delores Harrison, Don Cornelius his first wife.
The couple later went on to become parents to two kids who were both sons, Anthony as well as Raymond. There’s not much information about their union or Don’s first relationship together with the first woman he married.
Don Cornelius and his first wife’s marriage ended with divorce.
In the year 1966 Don was married to Delores’ marriage had ended. The couple later divorced and Don took a break from his work as a salesman to take on broadcasting. He got a job in the year 1966 as the news reporter and disc jockey on an area Chicago radio station.
Then he continued to pursue the things he was famous for. He was the creator, producer host, hosted, and was the owner of Soul Train, which aired for 35 years, eventually it ended in March of 2006. His catchy catchy line, “and you can bet your last dollar that it’s going to be a stone gas honey” was a constant theme after the show ended.
Don Cornelius died shortly after his second marriage was over.
Don continued to get married again and to Viktoria Chapman Cornelius in 2001. But by 2009 the second wedding ended, as was the fact that Don was found dead in his house in the year 2012, with an apparent gunshot as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
His son who is the oldest, Anthony, who is currently a TV producer and executive producer of the series American Soul, the drama-drama inspired by his father’s work in Soul Train, said to the publication in the year 2000 that he had no evidence that his father was suicidal.
