Don Cornelius

LOS ANGELES — “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.

“Soul Train” had a whimsical cartoon train and whistle that opened each show.

And Cornelius would close each show with his sign-off: “Love, peace, and SOUL!” drawing out the pronunciation of the last word with his deep voice.

“Soul Train” aired nationally from 1971 to 2006.

Asked why it endured, he told The New York Times in 1995: “There is an inner craving among us all, within us all, for television that we can personally connect to.”

He stepped down as host in 1993, and sold it to MadVision Entertainment in 2008.