Isaac Hayes

Isaac Lee Hayes (born August 20, 1942, in Covington, Tennessee, United States) is an actor, and influential soul singer, songwriter, musician and arranger. He also voiced the character "Chef", a singing ladies' man and elementary school cook, on the popular animated sitcom South Park from 1997 until 2006; he resigned following a highly-publicized dispute between the series and the Church of Scientology, a religious organization that the show pointedly satirized and of which Hayes currently is a member.
In addition to being a music mogul and successful voice actor, Isaac Hayes is also royalty. In fact, Hayes is a coronated king of the Ada coastal district of Ghana in western Africa where he is a member of the Royal Family. Instead of a palace, he built an 8,000 square foot educational facility through his Isaac Hayes Foundation (IHF). He is most certainly the only king on earth with an Oscar, Grammy awards, #1 gold records, his voice on an animated tv series, a radio show, two restaurants, a best-selling cookbook, and a line of barbecue sauces.
On June 9, 2005, Hayes was inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame alongside Bill Withers, Steve Cropper, Robert B. Sherman, Richard M. Sherman, John Fogerty and his longtime writing partner David Porter.
Music Career
Hayes began his recording career in 1962, soon playing saxophone for The Mar-Keys. After writing a string of hit songs at Stax Records with songwriting partner David Porter, including "Soul Man" and "Hold On I'm Comin" for Sam and Dave, Hayes released his debut album Presenting Isaac Hayes. A moderate success, the album was recorded immediately following a wild party.
The top-selling Hot Buttered Soul (1969) was a breakthrough album, and established his image (gold jewelry, sunglasses, etc) which eventually became a template for much of the fashion of gangsta rap and similar trends in the 1980s and 90s. Hayes' biggest hit was 1971's soundtrack to Shaft. The title song won an Oscar (the first for an African American composer), and clearly presaged disco. Black Moses (1971) became almost as successful.
By 1975, Hayes left Stax Records and formed his own label called Hot Buttered Soul Records. A series of unsuccessful albums led to Hayes' bankruptcy in 1976. The late 1970s saw a major comeback for Hayes, following the release of A Man and a Woman (1977, with Dionne Warwick). In spite of moderate success as a singer, Hayes' records did not sell very well.
Hayes has also forged a career as an actor in TV shows and feature films. When Shaft was being filmed, Hayes wanted the lead role, which went to Richard Roundtree; director Gordon Parks was impressed with Hot Buttered Soul where Hayes ended up scoring the film's music.
Hayes was inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.
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Live Action Roles
In the 1970s and 1980s he had appeared in some TV shows, including The Rockford Files and The A-Team. He appeared as the title role in Truck Turner (1974) (the only film he ever had a leading role), The Duke of New York in Escape from New York (1981), "Asneeze" in Robin Hood: Men in Tights and as "Hammer" in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988).
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.