LOS ANGELES (AP) - Don Cornelius, who with the creation of "Soul Train" helped break down racial barriers and broaden the reach of black culture with funky music, groovy dance steps and cutting edge style, died early Wednesday of an apparent suicide. A police cruiser sat parked in the entryway of Cornelius' home on a two-lane stretch of Mulholland Drive in the hills above Los Angeles. News cameras camped outside as drivers on their morning commute drove by. "He was a transformer," the Rev. Jesse Jackson told KNX-Los Angeles. 'Soul Train' became the outlet for African-Americans. Jackson said he talked to Cornelius a few days ago and there were no signs Cornelius was upset. The Rev. Al Sharpton said he was shocked and grief-stricken. "I have known him since I was19-years-old and James Brown had me speak on Soul Train," Sharpton said in a statement from New York. He brought soul music and dance to the world in a way that it had never been shown and he was a cultural game changer on a global level. It showcased such legendary artists as Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and Barry White and brought the best R&B, soul and later hip-hop acts to TV and had teenagers dance to them. "Soul Train," with its trademark opening of an animated chugging train, was not, however, an immediate success for Cornelius, an ex-disc jockey with a baritone rumble and cool manner. Only a handful of stations initially were receptive. "When we rolled it out, there were only eight takers," he recalled in a 2006 interview with The Associated Press. Which was somewhere between a little disappointing and a whole lot disappointing. The reasons he heard? There was just, 'We don't want it. We pass,'" he said, with race going unmentioned. No one was blatant enough to say that. "Soul Train" had arrived on the scene at a time when the country was still reeling from the civil rights movement, political upheaval and cultural swings. It also arrived when black faces on TV were an event, not a regular occurrence. "Soul Train" was seen by some at first as the black "American Bandstand," the mainstay TV music show hosted by Dick Clark. While "American Bandstand" featured black artists, it was more of a showcase for white artists and very mainstream black performers. "Soul Train" followed some of the "Bandstand" format, as it had an audience and young dancers, and Cornelius was its host. But that's where the comparisons stopped. Cornelius, the suave, ultra-cool emcee, made "Soul Train" appointment viewing by creating a show that showed another side of black music and culture. When it started, glistening Afros dominated the set, as young blacks boogied and shimmied to the music of the likes of Earth Wind & Fire and other acts perhaps less likely to get on "American Bandstand."