1963–1974: Stax Records and Shaft " Hayes began his recording career in the early 1960s, as a session musician for acts recorded by the Memphis-based
Stax Records. He later wrote a string of hit songs with songwriting partner
David Porter, including "You Don't Know Like I Know", "
Soul Man", "
When Something Is Wrong with My Baby" and "
Hold On, I'm Comin'" for
Sam & Dave. Hayes, Porter and Stax studio band
Booker T. & the M.G.'s were also the producers for Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas and other Stax artists during the mid-1960s. One of the first Stax records Hayes played on was "Winter Snow" by Booker T. and The M.G.s (Stax 45–236), which indicates "Introducing Isaac Hayes on piano" on the label. Hayes-Porter contributed to the Stax sound of this period, and Sam & Dave credited Hayes for helping develop both their sound and style. In 1968, Hayes released his debut album,
Presenting Isaac Hayes, a jazzy, largely improvised effort that was commercially unsuccessful. Stax then went through a major upheaval, losing its biggest star when
Otis Redding died in a plane crash in December 1967, and then losing its back catalog to
Atlantic Records in May 1968. As a result, Stax executive vice president
Al Bell called for 27 new albums to be completed in mid-1969; Hayes's second album,
Hot Buttered Soul was the most successful of these releases. before breaking into song, and the lone original number, the funky "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic" runs nearly ten minutes, a significant break from the standard three-minute soul/pop songs. "Walk On By" would be the first of many times Hayes would take a
Burt Bacharach standard, generally known as three-minute pop songs by Dionne Warwick or
Dusty Springfield, and transform it into a soulful, lengthy and almost
gospel number. In 1970, Hayes released two albums,
The Isaac Hayes Movement and
...To Be Continued. The former stuck to the four-song template of his previous album.
Jerry Butler's "I Stand Accused" begins with a trademark spoken word monologue, and Bacharach's "
I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" is re-worked. The latter album included "
The Look of Love", another Bacharach song transformed into an 11-minute epic of lush orchestral rhythm (mid-way it breaks into a rhythm guitar jam for a couple of minutes before suddenly resuming the slow love song). An edited three-minute version was issued as a single. He won an "
Academy Award for Best Original Song" for the
"Theme from Shaft", and in addition was nominated for Best Original Dramatic Score. Later in the year, Hayes released a double album,
Black Moses, that expanded on his earlier sounds and featured
The Jackson 5's song "
Never Can Say Goodbye". Another single, "I Can't Help It", was not featured on the album. In 1972, Hayes would record the theme tune for the television series
The Men and release a hit single (with "Type Thang" as a B-side). Hayes was back in 1973 with an acclaimed live double album,
Live at the Sahara Tahoe, and followed it up with the album
Joy. He moved away from cover songs with this album. An edited version of the title track would be a hit single. In 1974, Hayes was featured in the blaxploitation films
Three Tough Guys and
Truck Turner, and he recorded soundtracks for both.
Tough Guys was almost devoid of vocals and
Truck Turner yielded a single with the title theme. The soundtrack score of
Truck Turner was eventually used by filmmaker
Quentin Tarantino in the
Kill Bill film series, and has been used for over 30 years as the opening score of Brazilian radio show
Jornal de Esportes on the
Jovem Pan station. Unlike most African American musicians of the period, Hayes did not sport an
Afro haircut; his bald head became one of his defining characteristics.
1974–1977: HBS, basketball team ownership, and bankruptcy By 1974, Stax Records was having serious financial problems, stemming from problems with overextension and limited record sales and distribution. Hayes himself was deep in debt to
Union Planters Bank, which administered loans for the Stax label and many of its other key employees. In September of that year, Hayes sued Stax for $5.3 million. As Stax was in deep debt and could not pay, the label made an arrangement with Hayes and Union Planters: Stax released Hayes from his recording and production contracts, and Union Planters would collect all of Hayes's income and apply it towards his debts. Hayes formed his own label, Hot Buttered Soul, which released its product through
ABC Records. His new album, 1975's
Chocolate Chip, saw Hayes embrace the disco sound with the title track and lead single. "I Can't Turn Around" would prove a popular song as time went on. This would be Hayes's last album to chart in the top 40 for many years. Later in the year, the all-instrumental
Disco Connection album fully embraced disco. On July 17, 1974, Hayes, along with
Mike Storen,
Avron Fogelman, and
Kemmons Wilson, took over ownership of the
American Basketball Association team the
Memphis Tams. The prior owner was
Charles O. Finley, the owner of the
Oakland A's baseball team. Hayes's group renamed the team the
Memphis Sounds. Despite a 66% increase in home attendance, hiring well regarded coach
Joe Mullaney and, unlike in the prior three seasons, making the
1975 ABA Playoffs (losing to the eventual champion
Kentucky Colonels in the Eastern Division semi-finals), the team's financial problems continued. The group was given a deadline of June 1, 1975, to sell 4,000 season tickets, obtain new investors and arrange a more favorable lease for the team at the
Mid-South Coliseum. However, the group did not come through and the ABA took over the team, selling it to a group in Maryland that renamed the team the
Baltimore Hustlers and then the
Baltimore Claws before the club finally folded during preseason play for the 1975–1976 season. In 1976, the
Groove-A-Thon album featured the single "Rock Me Easy Baby" and the title track. Later the same year, the album cover of
Juicy Fruit (Disco Freak) featured Hayes in a pool with naked women, and spawned the title track single and the classic "The Storm Is Over". 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 had written, performed, and produced.
1977–1995: Polydor, hiatus, and film work 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 "Theme from
Shaft" ("Shaft II"), but was best known 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. The same year,
Fantasy Records, which had bought out Stax Records, released an album of Hayes's non-album singles and archived recordings as a "new" album,
Hotbed, in 1978. In 1979, Hayes returned to the Top 40 with ''Don't Let Go'' and its disco-styled title track that became a hit single (U.S. number 18), and also featured the classic "A Few More Kisses to Go". Later in the year he added vocals and worked on
Millie Jackson's album ''Royal Rappin's
, and a song he co-wrote, "Deja Vu", became a hit for Dionne Warwick and won her a Grammy for best female R&B vocal. Neither 1980s And Once Again'' or 1981's
Lifetime Thing produced notable songs or big sales, and Hayes chose to take a break from music to pursue acting. In the 1970s, Hayes was featured in the films
Shaft (1971) and
Truck Turner (1974); he also had a recurring role in the TV series
The Rockford Files as an old cellmate of Rockford's, Gandolph Fitch (who always referred to Rockford as "Rockfish" much to his annoyance), including one episode alongside duet-partner Dionne Warwick. In the 1980s and 1990s, he appeared in numerous films, notably
Escape from New York (1981), ''
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988), Prime Target
(1991), and Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), as well as in episodes of The A-Team and Miami Vice. He also attempted a musical comeback, embracing the style of drum machines and synth for 1986s U-Turn
and 1988s Love Attack'', though neither proved successful. In 1991, he was featured in a duet with fellow soul singer
Barry White on White's ballad "Dark and Lovely (You Over There)".
1995–2006: Return to prominence and South Park In 1995, Hayes appeared as a Las Vegas minister impersonating himself in the comedy series
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He launched a comeback on the
Virgin label in May 1995 with
Branded, an album of new material that earned impressive sales figures as well as positive reviews from critics who proclaimed it a return to form. A companion album released around the same time,
Raw & Refined, featured a collection of previously unreleased instrumentals, both old and new. For the 1996 film
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, he wrote a version of the
Beavis and Butt-Head theme in the style of the
Shaft theme. Hayes joined the founding cast of
Comedy Central's animated TV series
South Park. He provided the voice for the character of "
Chef", the amorous elementary-school lunchroom cook, from the show's debut on August 13, 1997, through the end of its ninth season in 2006. The role of Chef combined his work both as an actor and as a singer, thanks to the character's penchant for making conversational points in the form of crudely suggestive soul songs. A song from the series performed by Chef, "
Chocolate Salty Balls (P.S. I Love You)", received international radio airplay in 1999. It reached number one on the
UK singles chart and also on the
Irish singles chart. The track also appeared on the album
Chef Aid: The South Park Album in 1998. In 2000, Hayes appeared on the soundtrack of the French movie
The Magnet on the song "Is It Really Home" written and composed by rapper Akhenaton (IAM) and composer Bruno Coulais. In 2002, Hayes was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. After he played a set at the 2002
Glastonbury Festival, a documentary highlighting Isaac's career and his impact on many of the Memphis artists in the 1960s onwards was produced,
Only The Strong Survive. 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. He also had a brief recurring role in
UPN/
The CW's Girlfriends as Eugene Childs (father of Toni).
Departure from South Park In the
South Park episode "
Trapped in the Closet", a satire of
Scientology that aired on November 16, 2005, Hayes did not appear in his role as Chef. In an interview for
The A.V. Club, Hayes said that he was not pleased with the show's treatment of Scientology, but said that he "understands what Matt and Trey are doing". On March 13, 2006, a statement was issued in Hayes's name, indicating that he was asking to be released from his contract with
Comedy Central, calling recent episodes that satirized religious beliefs intolerant. "There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins", he was quoted as saying in the press-statement. However, the statement did not directly mention Scientology. A response from Stone said that Hayes's complaints stemmed from the show's criticism of Scientology and that he "has no problem –and he's cashed plenty of checks– with our show making fun of Christians, Muslims, Mormons, or Jews." On March 20, 2006, two days before the episode "
The Return of Chef" aired,
Roger Friedman of
Fox News reported having been told that the March 13 statement was made in Hayes's name, but not by Hayes himself. He wrote: "Isaac Hayes did not quit
South Park. My sources say that someone quit it for him. ... Friends in Memphis tell me that Hayes did not issue any statements on his own about
South Park. They are mystified." In a 2016 oral history of
South Park in
The Hollywood Reporter, Hayes's son
Isaac Hayes III said the decision to leave the show was made by his father's entourage, all of whom were ardent Scientologists, and that it was made after Hayes suffered a stroke, leaving him vulnerable to outside influence and unable to make such decisions on his own. However, the
Associated Press acknowledged that Hayes had in fact quit due to objection over "Trapped in The Closest"'s portrayal of Scientology, noting that Hayes stated "There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins." Despite later alleging that he supported the belief that Hayes' departure from South Park was conjured up by members of the Church of Scientology, with his agent Christina Kimball supposedly writing the statement regarding his departure, Matt Stone had previously conceded in March 2006 that the South Park's decision to take aim at Scientology was indeed connected to his personal decision to depart from the show, "This is 100 percent having to do with his faith of Scientology. ... He has no problem ... with our show making fun of Christians." Trey Parker "never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin."
2006–2008: Final years Hayes's income was sharply reduced as a result of leaving
South Park. There followed announcements that he would be touring and performing. A
Fox News reporter present at a January 2007 show in New York City, who had known Hayes fairly well, reported that "Isaac was plunked down at a keyboard, where he pretended to front his band. He spoke-sang, and his words were halting. He was not the Isaac Hayes of the past." During the spring of 2008, Hayes shot scenes for
Soul Men, a comedy inspired by the history of Stax Records, in which he appears as himself in a supporting role. The film was released in November 2008, after both Hayes and his costar,
Bernie Mac, had died. ==Health problems and death==