Isaac Hayes

Isaac Hayes Headshot

Singer • Actor • Songwriter • Composer

Birth Name: Isaac Lee Hayes Jr.

Birth Date: August 20, 1942

Death Date: August 10, 2008 — 65 years old

Birth Place: Covington, Tennessee

Perhaps no other songwriter and musician summed up soul, R&B and funk than Isaac Hayes. Once dubbed "Black Moses," Hayes emerged from being a sideman and songwriter for Stax Records to become the embodiment of early 1970s soul music. After introducing himself with the jazz-influenced Presenting Isaac Hayes, Hayes became a top-selling artist with Hot Buttered Soul and an Academy Award winner for his theme song to the revered blaxploitation flick, "Shaft" (1971).

He also found a vibrant second career in films and on television, appearing in small roles in "Escape from New York" (1981), "Dead Aim" (1987) and "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka" (1988). Hayes attracted a new generation of fans by voicing Chef on the popular animated comedy, "South Park" (Comedy Central, 1997- ), though he was forced to leave in 2006 after creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone lampooned Scientology, his chosen religion since 1995. But in the end, Hayes was largely remembered for his lush, funk soul music, which gained the admiration of later musicians from all genres, from rock-n-roll to rap to R&B.

Credits

Soul MenStream

Self
Movie
2008
44%

Kill SwitchStream

Actor
Coroner
Movie
2008

Hustle & FlowStream

Actor
Arnel
Movie
2005
83%

Dr. Dolittle 2Stream

Voice
Possum
Movie
2001
41%

Reindeer GamesStream

Actor
Zook
Movie
2000
25%

Six Ways to SundayStream

Actor
Bill Bennet
Movie
1999
36%

South Park: Bigger, Longer & UncutStream

Voice
Jerome 'Chef' McElroy
Movie
1999
81%

South ParkStream

Actor
Series
1997
80%

Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored

Actor
Preacher Hurn
Movie
1995
71%

It Could Happen to YouStream

Actor
Angel Dupree
Movie
1994
73%

PosseStream

Actor
Cable
Movie
1993
33%

Robin Hood: Men in TightsStream

Actor
Asneeze
Movie
1993
42%

Tales From the Crypt

Actor
Series
1989
82%

I'm Gonna Git You SuckaStream

Actor
Hammer
Movie
1988
62%

Escape From New YorkStream

Actor
The Duke of New York
Movie
1981
86%

Truck TurnerStream

Actor
Truck Turner
Movie
1974
60%