--- description: The front man of 1970s soul trio Main Ingredient, Cuba Gooding Sr., was found dead in a car in Los Angeles title: Soul Singer Cuba Gooding Sr. Has Died in Los Angeles image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt28553d373678bdb2/6988c3d8fb4eac2b48891a04/gettyimages-173293816.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Soul Singer Cuba Gooding Sr. Has Died in Los Angeles by [Joseph Hincks](/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 21, 2017 2:35 AM CUT  Cuba Gooding, Sr. of The Main Ingredient performs at Chastain Park Amphitheater on July 10, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia. Cuba Gooding, Sr. of The Main Ingredient performs at Chastain Park Amphitheater on July 10, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia.Chris McKay—WireImage by [Joseph Hincks](/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 21, 2017 2:35 AM CUT Cuba Gooding Sr., the man behind the ’70s rare groove classic “[Work to Do](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr-MXX8oVls "undefined")” and soul hits “Just Don’t Wanna Be Lonely” and “Everybody Plays the Fool,” has been found dead in a car in Los Angeles. Gooding’s body was discovered at around 1 p.m. Thursday local time slumped over in a silver Jaguar, which was parked in Los Angeles’ Woodland Hills neighborhood, Los Angeles’ ABC7 [reports](http://abc7.com/entertainment/soul-singer-cuba-gooding-sr-found-dead-in-woodland-hills/1897530/ "undefined"). While the cause of death is still being investigated police said there were no immediate indications of homicide. Drug paraphernalia and several bottles of alcohol were found at the scene according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, which was still waiting on the results of a toxicology report.  Cuba Gooding Sr., center, is pictured with Luther Simmons, left, and Tony Silvester of the Main Ingredient in 1974 GAB Archive—Redferns/Getty Images Gooding, who would have turned 73 next week, [became the lead singer](http://heavy.com/entertainment/2017/04/cuba-gooding-sr-singer-main-ingredient-wife-family-dead-death/ "undefined") of soul trio the Main Ingredient in 1971 after its former front man Donald McPherson died suddenly of leukemia. He is survived by his wife and four children, including the Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. Watch Gooding above in 1974, fronting the Main Ingredient on Burt Sugarman’s “The Midnight Special.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4749840/cuba-gooding-senior-main-ingredient-died/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4749840/cuba-gooding-senior-main-ingredient-died/"},"headline":"The Soul Singer Cuba Gooding Sr. Has Died in Los Angeles","datePublished":"2017-04-21T02:35:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:58:54.986Z","description":"Gooding's body was discovered at around 1pm Thursday local time slumped over in a silver Jaguar","url":"https://time.com/4749840/cuba-gooding-senior-main-ingredient-died/","keywords":["Music","remembrance","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt28553d373678bdb2/6988c3d8fb4eac2b48891a04/gettyimages-173293816.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joseph Hincks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt28553d373678bdb2/6988c3d8fb4eac2b48891a04/gettyimages-173293816.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Summer Soul Jam","caption":"Summer Soul Jam","creditText":"Chris McKay—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4749840/cuba-gooding-senior-main-ingredient-died/","name":"The Soul Singer Cuba Gooding Sr. Has Died in Los Angeles"}}]}] ```