Don Cornelius

Donald Cortez Cornelius created Soul Train — the longest-running first-run nationally syndicated program in television history, airing from 1971 to 2006. For 35 years, Soul Train was the heartbeat of Black popular culture, showcasing every major Black musical artist from James Brown to Beyoncé and broadcasting Black joy, fashion, dance, and style into living rooms across America every Saturday morning.

Born in Chicago on September 27, 1936, Cornelius worked as an insurance salesman and part-time radio DJ before creating Soul Train as a local Chicago television show in 1970. The show moved to Los Angeles and went into national syndication in 1971, and Cornelius served as host, producer, and owner — maintaining creative control in a way that was virtually unheard of for a Black media entrepreneur at the time.

Soul Train was more than a music show — it was a cultural institution. The Soul Train Line, the Soul Train Scramble Board, and the show's iconic dancers created a visual vocabulary of Black cool that influenced fashion, dance, and style worldwide. Cornelius negotiated the first contract giving a Black producer ownership of his own show, and the Soul Train brand eventually encompassed award shows, a record label, and merchandise. He joined the ancestors on February 1, 2012. The show's opening — "The hippest trip in America" — remains one of the most iconic phrases in television history.