LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Soul Train” host Don Cornelius was the arbiter of cool, a brilliant TV showman who used his purring, baritone voice to seduce mainstream America into embracing black music and artists.

But the “love, peace, and SOUL!” he wished viewers as he closed each show for decades escaped him as his life descended into marital trouble, illness and, finally, a fatal self-inflicted gunshot wound on Wednesday.

Police said they went to his Mulholland Drive home around 4 a.m. after receiving a call from one of his sons, who became concerned after being contacted by his father. Cornelius, 75, was found shot and was pronounced dead an hour later at a nearby hospital.

Authorities ruled out foul play, but have not found a suicide note and are talking to relatives about his mental state.

To music-hungry viewers, he was a smooth, sharp-dressed man who got them dancing to the hottest tracks going. The pop world’s biggest stars recalled him as much more: A cultural groundbreaker who advanced African-American music and culture; a black entrepreneur who overcame racism by strength of will; a visionary who understood rap’s emergence but criticised its rawness.

Aretha Franklin, an early “Soul Train” performer, called him “an American treasure.”

“God bless him for the solid, good and wholesome foundation he provided for young adults worldwide,” she said.