A Goodly Assortment of Goodings at Billboard Live

It was a moment that would have made Cuba Gooding Jr.’s Rod Tidwell character in “Jerry Maguire” proud.

Cuba Gooding Sr.--on stage at Billboard Live Thursday night--was singing the songs of love that have marked his long career with the Main Ingredient when his Oscar-winning son walked through the audience to the front edge of the stage.

Seeing him, the singer jumped into the stunned crowd, leading his son in a duet of the group’s 1972 hit, “Everybody Plays the Fool.” Soon, however, Gooding Sr. grabbed the microphone back and joked in a gruff voice: “Don’t you go and steal my show . . . sit back down and let me sing.”

And when Gooding did sing, it was a convincing reminder of why he had all those hits with the Main Ingredient: that strong, melodious voice.

After an upbeat jam session with “I’d Rather Be Loved,” where he playfully challenged members of the audience to out sing him, Gooding and trio focused on the slow jams that made their music such house party favorites. Hearts swooned when Gooding sang such tunes as “I’m So Proud” with a soul-stirring intensity that made eyes moisten.

With his son’s name now etched in film history, another son (Thomas) on stage playing bass and a third one (Omar) performing with the talented, upbeat rap group Sons of Pangea, which opened the show, Gooding Sr. has plenty of reasons to be proud himself.