LAS VEGAS – Just as many fireworks erupted on the blue carpet at The Soul Train Awards 2022 outside the Orleans Arena on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, as those that popped off during the music extravaganza inside.
A steady cavalcade of lyrical legends and rising renegades waltzed onto the blue carpet heaping effusive praise on the founder of “Soul Train,” Don Cornelius, and what the musical institution means to them as it reigned over their lives during their formative years.
“‘Soul Train,’ when I was coming up, was a party that I could look forward to every weekend, watching all the people come through the Soul Train line, and watching people like they were just having a wonderful time. And it made me feel good,” Morris Day, the lead singer of the indelible funk group The Time, said. “And to this day, it makes me feel good by honoring me with that legend award.
“Thank you ‘Soul Train,’ ” Day added before uttering his famous word. “Yes!”
Colorful comedian Luenell, who calls herself the “Bad Girl of Comedy,” said “Soul Train” provided the soundtrack to her childhood.
“Are you kidding me? ‘Soul Train’ was so epic. It was where the dances came from, where the fashion came from,” Luenell said as she reminisced about the likes of Michael Jackson and others appearing on the show in the 1970s. “We never had anything like that before. You knew to be in the house and in front of the TV at noon so you could watch ‘Soul Train.'”
Singer Aniyah called “Soul Train” and hip-hop the “story of our community.”
“It’s the source, the story of our community, our hood, the people that look like us. It comes from where we come from. It is vital to our culture,” she said.
