Soul Train
1971 – 2006
Soul Train is an American musical variety television show. After airing locally on WCIU-TV in Chicago, Illinois for a year, It aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. Across its 36-year history, the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip-hop artists. The series was created by Don Cornelius, who also served as its first and longest-serving host and executive producer.
Production was suspended following the 2005–2006 season, with a rerun package under the moniker The Best of Soul Train airing for two years subsequently. As a nod to Soul Train’s longevity, the show’s opening sequence during later seasons contained a claim that it was the “longest-running first-run, a nationally syndicated program in American television history”, with over 1,100 episodes produced from the show’s debut through the 2005–2006 season. Despite the production hiatus, Soul Train held that superlative record until 2016, when Entertainment Tonight surpassed it in completing its 35th season. Among non-news programs, Wheel of Fortune surpassed that mark in 2018.
As of 2016, the rights to the Soul Train brand, library, and associated events, such as its cruises and annual awards show, the Soul Train Music Awards, are now under the ownership of Paramount Global, through BET Networks.
In 1987, Soul Train launched the Soul Train Music Awards, which honors the top performances in R&B, hip hop, and gospel music (and, in its earlier years, jazz music) from the previous year.
Soul Train then produced the short-lived Soul Train Comedy Awards in 1993, which was discontinued that same year.
Soul Train later created two additional annual specials: The Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards, first airing in 1995, celebrated top achievements by female performers; and the Soul Train Christmas Starfest, which premiered in 1998, featured holiday music performed by a variety of R&B and gospel artists. Award categories for the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards presented to female recipients included:
Special awards were given
Best R&B/Soul Album of the Year, Solo
Best R&B/Soul Album of the Year, Group or Duo
Best R&B/Soul Song of the Year
Best R&B/Soul Single, Solo
Best R&B/Soul Single, Group or Duo
Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist
Best Jazz Album
Best Gospel Album
Best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video
Aretha Franklin Award for Entertainer of the Year and
Lena Horne Award for Outstanding Career Achievements
The Lady of Soul Awards and Christmas Starfest programs last aired in 2005. In April 2008, Don Cornelius announced that year’s Soul Train Music Awards ceremony had been canceled. Cornelius cited the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike by the Writers Guild of America as one of the reasons, though a main factor may have been the uncertainty surrounding Soul Train’s future. Cornelius also announced that a motion picture based on the program was in development. Subsequent owners of the franchise have followed their own agenda for the program, which included a revival of the Soul Train Music Awards in 2009.