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| Birth Name(s) : Isaac Lee Hayes |
Date of Birth: August 20, 1942 |
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Single
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| Profession:
Actor/Musician |
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Full Isaac Hayes Biography
Isaac Lee Hayes (born August 20, 1942, in Covington, Tennessee) is an American Grammy Award and Academy Award winning soul and funk singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, arranger, and actor. Hayes was one of the main creative forces behind Southern soul music label Stax Records, for which he served as both an in-house songwriter/producer and later as its premier recording artist.
In 1992, Hayes was crowned an honorary king of Ghana's Ada district thanks to his humanitarian deeds. From 1997 to 2006, he provided the voice for "Chef", a singing ladies' man and elementary school cook, on the animated sitcom South Park.
Isaac Lee Hayes was the second-born child of Isaac Sr. and Eula Hayes, but after their deaths was raised by his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Willie Wade Sr. The child of a poor family, he grew up picking cotton in Covington, Tennessee. He dropped out of high school, only to be encouraged later by his former high school teachers at Manassas High to get his diploma. He earned his diploma at the age of 21. He began singing at the age of five at his local church. Soon after, he taught himself how to play the piano, electronic organ, flute, and saxophone.
In 1972 Hayes would record the theme tune for the TV series The Men and enjoy a hit single (with "Type Thang" as a B-side), and release several other singles such as "Feel Like Making Love", "If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Want To Be Right)", and "Rolling Down A Mountainside". Although these songs never made it to an album, Fantasy Records would later collect them after buying out Stax and release these and other songs as a "new" album Hotbed in 1978. Stax themselves would re-release Hayes' debut album this year with the new title In The Beginning.
Hayes was back in 1973 with an acclaimed live double album Live At Sahara Tahoe, and follwed it up with the album Joy, his eighth album that featured the almost eerie beat of the fifteen-minute title track and a new direction moving away from covers. An edited "Joy" would be a hit single.
In 1976, the album cover of Juicy Fruit featured Hayes in a pool with naked women, and spawned the title track single and the classic "Storm Is Over". Later the same year the Groove-A-Thon album featured the singles "Rock Me Easy Baby" and the title track. However, while all these albums were regarded as solid efforts, Hayes was no longer selling large numbers. He and his wife were forced into bankruptcy in 1976, as they owed over $6 million. By the end of the bankruptcy proceedings in 1977, Hayes had lost his home, much of his personal property, and the rights to all future royalties earned from the music he'd written, performed, and produced.
In 1977, Hayes was back with a new deal with Polydor Records, a live album of duets with Dionne Warwick did moderately well, and his comeback studio album New Horizon sold better and enjoyed a hit single "Out The Ghetto", and also featured the popular "It's Heaven To Me".
1978's For The Sake Of Love saw Hayes record a sequel to Shaft ("Shaft II"), but was most famous for the single "Zeke The Freak", a song that would have a shelf life of decades and be a major part of the House movement in the UK.Universal Pictures screenshot of Isaac Hayes from season three of The Rockford Files, episode "Just Another Polish Wedding".
In 2004, Hayes appeared in a recurring minor role as the Jaffa Tolok on the television series Stargate SG-1. The following year, he appeared in the critically acclaimed independent film Hustle & Flow.
Hayes has contributed endorsement blurbs for many Scientology books. The frontispiece page for Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought (1997 paperback edition) quotes Hayes as saying:
In an interview for The A.V. Club on January 4, 2006, Hayes was again asked about the episode. Hayes said that he told the creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, "Guys, you have it all wrong. We're not like that. I know that's your thing, but get your information correct, because somebody might believe that shit, you know?" He then told them to take a couple of Scientology courses to understand what they do. In the interview, Hayes defended South Park's style of controversial humor, noting that he was not pleased with the show's treatment of Scientology, but conceding that he "understands what Matt and Trey are doing."
The episode ends with Chef choosing to stay with the club rather than returning to South Park, and then dying a painful and graphically violent death. At his funeral, Kyle urges the town of South Park to "remember Chef as the jolly old guy who always broke into song," and that they not let "the events of the last week take away the memories of how much Chef made us smile." He also tells them that they should not blame Chef for his defection, but rather "be mad at that fruity little club for scrambling his brains." The final scene depicts Chef being resurrected in the image of Darth Vader by the Super Adventure Club. He is still credited in the shows. |
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