Soul Train is a syndicated, music-related television program. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featured performances by R&B (rhythm and blues), soul (soul music), and hip hop (hip hop music) artists, although funk (funk music), jazz, and gospel (gospel music) artists have also appeared. The show is known for its animated opening titles and sequences between musical performances featuring the popular cartoon train created by various cartoon studios. As a nod to Soul Trains longevity, the shows opening sequence (during later seasons) contains a claim that it was the "longest-running, first-run, nationally-syndicated program in television history," with over 1,100 episodes produced from the shows debut through the 2005-06 season.

The series was created by Don Cornelius, who also served as its first host and executive producer, and aired first-run episodes from 1971 to 2006. Production was suspended following the 2005-2006 season, with a rerun package (known as The Best of Soul Train) airing for two years after that. Despite this, in years on air, Soul Train will continue to hold the honor of the longest, continuously-running first-run syndicated program until at least 2016, if and when its nearest competitor, Entertainment Tonight, completes its 35th season. (If ET does not complete a 35th season, Wheel of Fortune (Wheel of Fortune (US game show)) would pass in 2017 if it continues to air.)Citation neededdate=February 2010