Isaac Hayes, 65, Found Dead
August 11th, 2008
Singer songwriter Isaac Hayes, the pioneering American musician behind the award-winning ‘Theme From Shaft’, has been found dead over the weekend at his Tennessee home, aged 65.
The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office said a family member had found Hayes unresponsive near a treadmill on Sunday (August 10).
Steve Shular, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said authorities received a 911 call after Hayes’ wife and young son and his wife’s cousin returned home from the grocery store and found him collapsed in a downstairs bedroom. A sheriff’s deputy administered CPR until paramedics arrived.
“The treadmill was running but he was unresponsive lying on the floor,” Shular said.
Hayes was pronounced dead an hour later at Baptist East Hospital in Memphis. The cause of death was not immediately known.
In the early 1970s, Hayes’ urban-contemporary music paved the way for disco. His song ‘Theme From Shaft’, from the film ‘Shaft’ starring Richard Roundtree, became a No. 1 hit in 1971 and won Grammy and Academy Awards. Hayes was also well known for his role in the animated TV series ‘South Park’, in which he became the voice of Chef – the sensible school cook and devoted ladies man – in 1997.
Hayes was about to begin work on a new album for Stax, the soul record label he helped build. He had recently finished working on a movie called ‘Soul Men’, in which he played himself; the film also starred Samuel Jackson and Bernie Mac, who died on Saturday.
Photo courtesy of BMI.
