Isaac Hayes died yesterday, aged 65. He was found at his home next to a treadmill, it's believed he died whilst working out but his cause of death is not yet known. Depending on your age, you may have a very different idea as to who Hayes was but it's a testament to his work as an artist that he managed to keep himself fresh and adaptable to the ever changing world climate. If you are in your 20's, your best memory of Hayes could well be as the voice of Chef in South Park, the popular but always satirical soul-signing chef at the school cafeteria. Amazingly at the height of South Park's popularity at the beginning of the decade, Hayes even had a U.K. number one single as Chef with the hilariously stupid Chocolate Salty Balls (P.S. I Love You) which I'm not ashamed to admit, I actually purchased. Hayes left the show in 2006 when an episode aired the previous year titled Trapped in the Closet which was an attack on Scientology and particularly the media sensation that surrounded Tom Cruise at the time which Hayes (as he was an open scientologist) didn't appear in or agree with. After continuing questions about the episode on talk shows, Hayes couldn't get away from the event and eventually sent out his resignation to Comedy Central to leave the show. If your older, you will know Hayes probably from his work on the Academy Award winning theme song for the movie Shaft which almost defined the 70's blackxploitation era.
The song is said to have famously been recorded in two hours but would be at No. 1 for two weeks, and his soundtrack score stayed in the charts for over a year. It was the first music he scored exclusively for a film, and it worked so incredibly well.
As a musician his other big hits included a reworking of Walk on By as a soulful and lengthy gospel number...
Never Can Say Goodbye...
Stormy Monday...
In the 80's, Hayes began appearing in a number of movies. He appeared in Escape from New York (and it's sequel) as "The Duke" and in the blackexplotation flick I'm Gonna Git You Sucka along with later roles in comedies It Could Happen to You, Robin Hood: Men in Tights and Dr. Dolittle 2.
His last film role of any note was as a bar owner in the 2005 drama Hustle & Flow, though he has filmed a very small role in the upcoming Soul Men which sadly also lost one of it's lead stars Bernie Mac over the weekend.
Hayes was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. For more on his influential career and life visit WIKI.
Matt Holmes is the co-founder of What Culture, formerly known as Obsessed With Film. He has been blogging about pop culture and entertainment since 2006 and has written over 10,000 articles.