‘Soul Train’ creator Don Cornelius was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head around 4 a.m. inside his Sherman Oaks, California residence on Wednesday morning. He was 75 years old.

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. (source)

Share your thoughts on Christina’s performance with me on Twitter.

Never mind whatever substance that is dripping down her leg.

With more vocal runs than Mariah Carey listening to her favorite Teena Marie Pandora station while jogging trails at Runyon Canyon, Christina Aguilera gave Etta James a rousing send-off on Saturday at the City of Refuge Church in Gardena, California by performing the late R&B legend’s signature ballad, “At Last.”

Stevie Wonder also performed three songs, including “Shelter In the Rain” and a harmonica solo for the family members, friends, associates and several hundred fans who attended the two-hour service.

Rev. Al Sharpton, who officiated at the ceremony, opened his remarks by reading a statement from the President. Try not to shade your Uncle Al’s existence too hard, will you? Everybody knows Weeping Wanda is no flake when it comes to cashing in on loading up on King’s Hawaiian rolls, macaroni salad, sweet tea and mourning deaconesses at repast.

“Etta will be remembered for her legendary voice and her contributions to our nation’s musical heritage,” President Obama’s statement read.

Watch X-Tina and her bountiful cleavage wail Etta into the bosom of her next chapter after the jump.

Disturbing new details have emerged in the murder of Waka Flocka Flame affiliate rapper Slim Dunkin.

“The information we’re getting, it’s unconfirmed, but witnesses are saying this whole thing started over a piece of candy,” homicide detective David Quinn told an Atlanta’s WSBTV2 on Tuesday.

According to eye witness accounts, Slim Dunkin, born Mario Hamilton, grabbed a piece of candy from another man while inside a packed Atlanta recording studio Friday night, which led to an argument before escalating into a fistfight. The scuffle ended with Dunkin being shot once in the chest. He was then rushed to Grady Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

“This fight spilled out into this area where he was attacked. Based on the evidence we have, whoever he was fighting with secured a weapon and shot him.”

4:28 PM: Heavy D had just returned from shopping and walked up some stairs when he began having trouble breathing. Adam Mills, a designer who was in the building and knew Heavy D, found him leaning against a railing and clearly in distress. Adam tells us he cradled Heavy D in his lap as others called 911. Adam says Heavy D was conscious and said to him, “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.”

When paramedics took Heavy D to the hospital he had a pulse. People in the building are saying he died of a heart attack, but we have not been able to confirm that. Law enforcement sources tell us no foul play was involved and so far they only know the cause of death was “medical.”

TMZ reports:

Rap legend Heavy D, one of the most influential rappers of the ’90s, died earlier today. Heavy D — real name Dwight Arrington Myers — was rushed to an L.A. hospital around noon today and was pronounced dead at the hospital at 1 PM. He was 44 years old.

We’ve learned a 911 call was placed from Heavy’s Beverly Hills home around 11:25 AM to report an unconscious male on the walkway .

When help arrived, we’re told Heavy D was conscious and speaking — and was transported to a nearby hospital.

He died a short time later.

Cops are investigating the death — and so far, there are no obvious signs of foul play.

From USA Today:

Nick Ashford, who along with wife Valerie Simpson helped set the gold standard for R&B duets, both as songwriters and performers, died of throat cancer Monday in a New York hospital. He was 69.

Ashford & Simpson — you can’t think of one without the other — penned and produced almost all of the ’60s hits for Motown’s Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, including Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, You’re All I Need to Get By, Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing and Your Precious Love. They also wrote hits for Chuck Jackson, The Shirelles, Maxine Brown and the Fifth Dimension.

Ain’t no mountain high enough to make us ever forget about Nick Ashford’s magnificent ebony mane and smile. I just poured out a little bit of Isoplus wrap lotion in his memory. Our prayers are with his family and loved ones tonight.

A solemn tone set over Twitter this evening as news about the death of celebrity make-up artist / hairstylist Dariel Pulliam spread across the social network. Best known for his lively cameos on Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is and  The Frankie & Neffe Show, Pulliam reportedly passed away on Tuesday morning from an undisclosed illness.

“Hurting to say farewell to my dear friend, Bestie, Brother and so much more @DarielLoves…I love you pooh!!!,” tweeted Neffe. “@DarielLoves was a wonderful hairstylist. He kept a lot of ladies looking fly. I met him a few times and he was always so sweet and humble,” recalled Keyshia Cole.

An understandably somber Tionna Smalls reacted: “My life is distraught. My friend, make up artist, atl hairstylist (what chilli wants 2) Dariel Pulliam (@darielloves) has passed. May he RIP.”

I never had the opportunity of meeting Dariel but the video he recorded shortly after the birth of Neffe’s daughter Nyla made him an instant friend in my head. On behalf of Crunkland I sincerely send my prayers and condolences out to his family and friends.

Snoop Dogg (pictured with wife, Shante) served as a honorary pallbearer at the funeral for longtime friend / collaborator Nathaniel “Nate Dogg” Hale on Saturday. A day prior The Doggfather revealed his tattoo honoring the late G-Funk era legend to followers on Twitter.

West coast rap luminaries Dr. Dre, The Game, Warren G, DJ Quick, Xzibit, Daz and Kurupt, Los Angeles radio station personality Big Boy from Power 106, and others shared memorable stories of their friend inside the Long Beach Cruise Terminal as raindrops fell outside.

MTV Reports:

“1986, Poly High School, that’s where we connected for the first time,” an emotionally distraught Snoop reflected on his friend. “We didn’t know each other, but the music connected us. We built a brotherhood, a friendship.”

Snoop first met Nate along with his best friend Warren G at the school where they would go on to form the rap trio 213. Warren G spoke briefly, reminding mourners in attendance what a great man the music world has lost.

“It hurts me so much to see this,” Warren G said somberly while looking down at the casket. “We been through a whole lot and that was my dog. He stayed down with me from the bottom to the top. I didn’t ever think I would have to sit at a funeral for one of my dogs. All I can say is that was my friend, me him and Snoop was 213 from the balls to the walls. The music industry lost an incredible artist.”

Damn. There were plenty of mornings during my senior year of high school where I almost missed the bus because I was glued to the television watching episodes of the And 1 Mixtape Tour on ESPN 2. I’m feeling all types of bummed about the following news.

Basketball street legend Troy “Escalade” Jackson was found dead in a Los Angeles hotel room on Sunday morning. He was 35.

Fred Corral with the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office says Jackson was found unresponsive shortly before noon. An autopsy is pending. Jackson, the younger brother of longtime NBA star Mark Jackson, spent two seasons at Louisville as under coach Denny Crum.

He battled weight problems his entire career. He became a popular fixture on the streetball circuit, where he carried the nickname “Escalade” because of his size. He was listed at 6-foot-10 inches and 375 pounds while being a part of the And1 Mixtape tour in 2002.

His nephew, Mark Jackson Jr, a walk-on with the Cardinals, tweeted the following message this weekend. “2day we lost a great man of God in my Uncle @Escalade53 but it consoles my heart to know that he is in a better place WE WILL ALL MISS YOU!” Shaquille O’Neal also tweeted “My heart goes out to Mark Jackson and his family who lost his brother last night, Escalade. We lost a great person love u escalade. I’m sad.”

Way before Miami mayoral candidate Luther Campbell was ever banned in the USA for being too live “Mr. Jody” was making house calls across the southern states.

If your Grandpa was as ratchet as mine back well beyond his prime the name Marvin Sease probably rings a bell. The popular chitlin circuit performer well known for his raunchy tongue-in-cheek songs, passed away Tuesday in Vicksburg, MS. According to reports, the singer supposedly died of pneumonia. He would have turned 65 next Wednesday.

Take a listen to his signature songs “Candy Licker” and “I Ate You For My Breakfast” after the jump.

Jack LaLanne was the only pepaw that could sweet talk me into breaking bread on the last night infomercial tip, a feat that not even Ron Popeil could accomplish. Live in the sky, Jack.

Before Jazzercise, before spinning, before kettle bells, Pilates, Wii Fit, Zumba or the Shake Weight, there was Jack LaLanne. The seemingly tireless fitness guru who taught the world how to get in shape for nearly 80 years died on Sunday afternoon at his home in Morro Bay, California, due to respiratory failure resulting from pneumonia. He was 96.

“He was surrounded by his family and passed very peacefully and in no distress … and with the football game on Sunday, so everything was normal,” daughter Yvonne LaLanne, 66, told Reuters.

LaLanne spent his life encouraging couch potatoes to be fit, helping to jump-start the modern fitness movement while proving that it’s never too late to get in shape. Though a modest 5′ 6″, LaLanne had an oversize personality and the monster heart of a salesman when it came to promoting exercise. From swimming from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman’s Wharf while handcuffed and pulling a 1,000-pound boat at age 60 to slapping the cuffs on again and pulling 70 people in 70 boats for more than a mile through Long Beach Harbor a decade later, LaLanne never stopped encouraging Americans to push themselves and their bodies in search of peak fitness. (MTV)