Joe Cobb, the voice heard in the iconic “Soul Train” opening sequence, is suing to get royalties from the hit series.
Cobb and Don Cornelius, creator of “Soul Train,” worked together at a radio station in the 1960s before the latter launched the series in 1971, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The variety show remains an iconic fixture in Black American culture that fused Black music, fashion, and youth together. Cobb screamed the show’s title in the opening credits for the series that would go on to run until 2006.
Now 80 years old, Cobb alleges that his royalty checks stopped in 2008, even though his voice is on the episodes that appear in DVD box sets and in syndication, even on cellphone ringtones. “I didn’t give permission to use it,” he said, per the Sun-Times. “I didn’t sign off on using my voice and the ‘Soul Train’ scream.” Cobb is seeking at least $75,000 in back royalties.
“As described by Don Cornelius himself, I am the voice of ‘Soul Train,’” Cobb explained. “It’s like I never existed. And, not only that, even my history in broadcasting, those 40 years I spent in Chicago, there’s no record of anything there, nothing.” Cornelius passed in 2012.
As the Sun-Times detailed, the rights to “Soul Train” were purchased in 2012, and in 2016 BET bought the franchise and now airs the Soul Train Awards. In the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Cobb claims that BET contacted him about using his iconic phrase during the 2014 Soul Train Awards and offered him $1,000. He claims that despite turning down the offer, the network still used his scream.
The lawsuit names BET, Paramount Global and CBS Entertainment, according to the Sun-Times, and states that it “seeks to vindicate Mr. Cobb’s rights and to ensure he is compensated for his valuable contributions to Black American and American popular culture.”
SAG-AFTRA is not named in the lawsuit. Cobb explains he was a member of the union for years, but “cut ties” after Cornelius sold the rights to the show.
The lawsuit claims that the union “informed those affiliated with the show that they would be getting releases to sign to waive their rights to additional compensation.” Cobb claims he never received such a notice and has been unable to get a record of his work from the union despite his efforts.
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