Cuba Gooding Sr., soul singer and father to Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. has died. He was 72.
According to ABC7, Gooding was found dead in his car in Los Angeles on Thursday. The news outlet wrote that the fire department responded to the scene at around 1:00 p.m. PT and attempted CPR but could not resuscitate him.
While police are still investigating the cause of death, TMZ reported that it is a suspected overdose.
Born in 1944, Gooding was best known as the lead singer of the soul group The Main Ingredient in the ’70s. Among the group’s hits were the songs “Everybody Plays the Fool” and “Just Don’t Want to Be Lonely.”
In a 2015 interview with Afro.com, Gooding reflected on his career with the group, whose founding members also included Tony “Panama” Sylvester, Luther Simmons and Donald McPherson.
“We were not the typical black soul group from the early 1970s. We recorded on the prestigious RCA-Victor label (now SONY) with the likes of Harry Belafonte and Charley Pride,” he said. “But remember, we were young and still wanted to be cool and soulful like our counterparts, The O’Jays and The Delfonics and people like that.”
Gooding and his wife, Shirley, had four children, including Cuba Gooding Jr., who is known for his roles in “Boyz n the Hood,” “Jerry Maguire,” “Pearl Harbor” and “The People vs. O.J.: American Crime Story.”