Isaac Hayes (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer-songwriter, actor, voice actor and producer….who was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records….where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a session musician and record producer….while teaming with his partner David Porter during the mid-1960’s.
Hayes and Porter, along with Bill Withers, the Sherman Brothers, Steve Cropper, and John Fogerty were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 in recognition of writing scores of songs for themselves, the duo Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, and others.
In 2002, Hayes was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The song “Soul Man”, written by Hayes and Porter and first performed by Sam & Dave….has been recognized as one of the most influential songs of the past 50 years by the Grammy Hall of Fame. It was also honored by The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame….by Rolling Stone magazine….and by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) as one of the Songs of the Century.
During the late 1960’s, Hayes also began a career as a recording artist….to which he had several successful soul albums such as Hot Buttered Soul in 1969….and Black Moses in 1971. In addition to his work in popular music….he worked as a composer of musical scores for motion pictures. He was well known for his musical score for the film Shaft in 1971. For the “Theme from Shaft“, he was awarded the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1972….becoming the third African-American, after Sidney Poitier and Hattie McDaniel, to win an Academy Award in any competitive field covered by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He also won two Grammy Awards for that same year. Later, he was Throughout his songwriting career, Hayes received five BMI R&B Awards, two BMI Pop Awards, two BMI Urban Awards and six Million-Air citations. As of 2008, his songs generated more than 12 million performances.
