RIPCuba Gooding Sr. Has Died at Age 72
Rest in peace, Cuba Gooding Sr.
The singer and father of actor Cuba Gooding Jr. sadly died at age 72 on Thursday, April 20, according to multiple news outlets.
TMZ first reported Gooding Sr. was found unconscious in his car in Woodland Hills, CA and was pronounced dead after first responders failed to resuscitate him.
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The Los Angeles County coroner’s office later told a local news outlet that several bottles of alcohol as well as drug paraphernalia were found in Gooding Sr.’s car at the time of his passing.
Cuba Gooding Sr. (right) with The Main Ingredient.
The star first rose to fame in the early 1970s as the lead singer of soul group The Main Ingredient. The trio was most known for their hit songs “Everybody Plays the Fool” (1972) and “Just Don’t Want to Be Lonely” (1974). During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Gooding Sr. also had a brief solo career with Motown Records.
In a recent interview, Gooding Jr. opened up about his father’s music career and recalled a fun childhood memory when Gooding Sr. sang at Disneyland.
“I remember, one of my earliest memories… he would perform at Disneyland, and after his performances, they would close it off to the general public and all the performers’ kids would go on the rides as many times as they’d want,” he said.
Gooding Sr. (left) with his son Gooding Jr. (right) in 2002.
“He would pull me up on stage with him and make me finish the song because I’d seen him perform all the time,” Gooding Jr. continued. “It was a lot of feeling like, ‘I come from royalty.'”
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Gooding Sr. was married to his wife, Shirley Sullivan, twice. They first separated in 1974 and remarried in 1995. In addition to their son Gooding Jr., the couple have three other children: actors Omar Gooding and April Gooding and musician Tommy Gooding.
Our thoughts are with the Gooding family during this difficult time.
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