Singer, keyboardist, producer, songwriter and actor. Born: 20 August 1942 in Covington, Tennessee. Died: 10 August 2008 in his Tennessee home. Signed to the Stax record label during the 1960s and 1970s, Hayes played an important role in shaping the "Memphis sound". First active for the label as musician and later songwriter/producer (usually teaming up with David Porter), he enjoyed his biggest success as a solo artist in 1971 with the soundtrack to the movie Shaft. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002 (Performer). As an actor, he is best known as the voice of Chef on the animated tv-series South Park (1997-2006). Isaac Hayes is the father of Isaac Hayes III.
Isaac Lee Hayes (born Aug 20, 1942, in Covington, Tennessee - died Aug 10, 2008, in Memphis, Tennessee) was an influential soul singer, songwriter, musician, producer, arranger, and actor. One of the key creative forces behind Memphis' Stax Records, Hayes began his recording career in 1962, soon playing saxophone for The Bar-Kays. Hayes and writing partner David Porter would pen numerous hits for Stax artists such as Sam and Dave ("Hold On! I'm Comin'", "Soul Man") and Carla Thomas ("B-A-B-Y") during the mid-1960s.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Hayes became famous as a recording artist in his own right, scoring with critically and commercially successful albums such as Hot Buttered Soul and Black Moses. Hayes is best known today for composing the score to the 1971 blaxploitation film Shaft. That film's "Theme from Shaft" was one of the best-selling singles in Stax Records history, and Hayes became the first African-American to win an Oscar for a non-acting category when "Theme from Shaft" won the 1972 Academy Award for Best Song.
Isaac Hayes may be known to today's youngest generation as the voice of the character "Chef", the ladies' man/school cook, on the animated sitcom South Park from 1997 until his resignation from the show in March 2006. While Hayes' departure was tagged to a controversial South Park episode on Scientology that had supposedly offended him, Hayes rarely declared anything about the departure in first person.
From Wikipedia:Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. (August 20, 1942 ? August 10, 2008) was an American songwriter, musician, singer, and occasionally an actor. Hayes was one of the creative geniuses behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the mid-1960s. Hayes, Porter, Bill Withers, the Sherman Brothers, Steve Cropper, and John Fogerty were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 in recognition of writing scores of notable songs for themselves, the duo "Sam & Dave", Carla Thomas, and others.
The hit song "Soul Man" written by Hayes and Porter, and first performed by "Sam & Dave" has been recognized as one of the most influential songs of the past 50 years by the Grammy Hall of Fame. This song was also honored by the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, by Rolling Stone magazine, and by the RIAA as the Songs of the Century.
During the late 1960s, Hayes also became a recording musician, and he recorded several successful soul albums such as Hot Buttered Soul (1969) and Black Moses (1971). In addition to his work in popular music, Hayes worked as composer of musical scores for motion pictures.
Doubtless, Hayes's best known work was his musical score for the film Shaft (1971). For his composition of the Theme from Shaft, Hayes was awarded the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1972. Other than such distinguished actors as Sidney Poitier and Hattie McDaniel, Hayes became the first African-American to win an Academy Award in any field whatsoever covered by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Hayes also won two Grammy Awards for that same year. Later, he was given his third Grammy Award for his music album Black Moses.
During 1992, in recognition of his humanitarian work there, Hayes was crowned as the honorary king of the Ada, Ghana region. Hayes also acted in motion pictures and television, such as in the movie, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. Then from 1997 to 2005, he gave the voice to the character "Chef" on the animated TV series South Park, and also to Gandolf "Gandy" Fitch in the TV series The Rockford Files (1974 ? 80).