'Soul Train' creator Don
Cornelius dead in apparent suicide
"Soul Train" creator Don Cornelius was found dead at
his Sherman Oaks on home Wednesday morning. Law enforcement sources said
police arrived at Cornelius' home around 4 a.m. He apparently died of a
self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to sources, who spoke on the condition
of anonymity because the case was ongoing.
The sources said there was no sign of foul play, but
the Los Angeles Police Department was investigating.
In a 2010 interview with
The Times, he said he was excited about a movie project he was developing about
"Soul Train." "We've been in discussions with several people about getting a
movie off the ground. It wouldn't be the 'Soul Train' dance show, it would be
more of a biographical look at the project," he said. "It's going to be about
some of the things that really happened on the show."
According to a Times article, Cornelius’ “Soul Train”
became the longest-running first-run nationally syndicated show in television
history, bringing African American music and style to the world for 35
years.
Cornelius stopped hosting the show in 1993, and “Soul
Train” ceased production in 2006.... In his honor lets go down the Soul Train Line
The Homegoing Service for
R&B Chanteuse Lady Vesta Williams
Vesta Williams been able to attend her own funeral,
it’s very likely that she would have given the performers who sang their hearts
out, and the speakers who reflected on her life during a two-hour, closed-casket
service, a standing ovation. They truly represented when it came to celebrating
the legacy of heaven’s newest star at the West Angeles Church of God in Christ
on Tuesday morning. Vesta, who was found dead at age 54 in a Los Angeles hotel
room on Sept. 22, was serenaded by the West Angeles Mass Choir, which sang “Soon
and Very Soon” and “Changed”; vocalist Jesse Campbell, whose acapella rendition
of “Amazing Grace” brought the house down; and Bridgette Bryant who stirred it
up with “His Eye is on the Sparrow”. There was also a DVD of Vesta performing a
gospel tune during a Women’s Day service at West Angeles.
The life of the four-octave singer, who was best known
for her No. 1 hit Congratulations, was also acknowledged by some of the people
who knew her best including: music producer Tena Clark, her longtime manager
Iris Perkins and her sisters Minister Margaret Wilson and Martae
Collins.
Tena Clark, who co-wrote Congratulations with Vesta
and Gary Prim, recalled how the singer fought for her to produce tracks on her
second album during an era in the music industry when they didn’t let women do
so. Vesta told Tena if the record company wouldn’t let her have her way she’d
have laryngitis for the next five years. “I’ve always been indebted to her,”
Tena Clark said while fighting back tears. “She was the
sweetest angel and the funniest human being I’ve ever met in my
life.”
Her sister, Minister Margaret Wilson, who was barely
able to get through her remarks talked about the older sister who was
her “first friend” and her “protector.” Recalling an incident in which their
younger sister was being bullied on the way home from school, Margaret had the
congregation laughing hard when she mentioned how an adult Vesta, sans makeup,
greeted the bully with a baseball bat and approached the
bully.
“The girl was so focused on the bat in Vesta’s hand
that Vesta hauled off and cold cocked her with her other hand! Later that day
when the girl returned with her mother and the police Williams had applied her
makeup, making it impossible for the girl to make a positive
I.D.”
Among the celebrities attending Tuesday’s services
were: Jackée Harry, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Loretta Devine, Miki Howard, Norwood
Young, Kiki Shepherd, Bill Duke, Freda Payne and Kellita
Smith.
Jackée Harry, a
longtime friend who worked with Vesta on Sister, Sister, said before the service
that she’ll always remember the singer’s sense of humor.
“She often impersonated me in her shows. One time someone asked
her what my son’s name was and she said, Frank, but it should be Frankee! She
had me rolling. I’m just so sorry that a lot of people didn’t know the real
Vesta, not just the playful Vesta. We’re here to celebrate her and not
mourn.”
Charles E. Blake, the presiding bishop of the Church
of God in Christ and the pastor at West Angeles, officiated the service with his
son Elder Lawrence Blake. In his closing remarks the Bishop remembered Vesta as
a wonderful woman who
“in a very special way blessed us
with her music and her service.”
Vesta, whose burial information was kept private, is
survived by her daughter Tandia White; mother Joan Williams Tate; sisters
Margaret Wilson, Martae Collins, Marlena Robinson and brother Marques Williams;
and three grandchildren.
"FLOAT ON By Bow Legged Lou, Vesta Williams, Regina Belle, & Me'liss Morgan, Issac Hayes, & FULL FORCE
Hat Tip: gospel connoisseur
mag,EURWEB, MoKelly
TAKE YOUR WINGS AND FLY ON VESTA…..AND
SING AMONGST THE ANGELS!!
