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Issac Hayes Died At 65; No Cause of Death Yet

By Garrett Godwin

The music industry lost one of its legendary voices in both soul and R&B, with the passing of Isaac Hayes this afternoon at the age of 65. According to authorities, he collapsed near a treadmill, and the Shelby County Sheriff's Office states that Hayes was pronounced dead at Baptist East Hospital. The cause of death is unknown at the moment.

Hayes is best known for composing the music of the 1971 blaxploitation film Shaft. The theme song went to #1, elevating the film's success, and winning him a Golden Globe, a Grammy, and an Oscar.

He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

Hayes went on to both the big and small screen -- appearing in Keenan Ivory Wayans' blaxploitation parody, I'm Gonna Get You Sucka (1988) and Mario Van Peebles' Posse (1993), and guest-starring on shows such as The A-Team and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, in which he became a pop culture reference on the latter.

Hayes was a regular as the cook Chef on Comedy Central's animated South Park in 1997. However, he angrily left in 2006 when an episode made fun of his Scientology beliefs, leading his character to be killed off on the show.

Before his death, the singer was in the process of recording a new album for Stax, the soul record label he helped develop successfully, and just recently completed his role on Soul Men, in which he plays himself. The upcoming film also stars Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac, who sadly passed away yesterday from pneumonia at the age of 50.

Hayes' music has been considered to pave the way for disco as well as soulful romantics like Barry White.

"Issac Hayes embodies everything that's soul music" Collin Stanback, A&R Executive at Stax, states to the Associated Press today. "When you think of soul music you think Issac Hayes -- the expression ... the sound and the creatively that goes along with it."

Hayes is survived by his fourth wife Adjowa, twelve children, and fourteen grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. One of them is his namesake, Issac Hayes III.

Source: Yahoo! News

Garrett Godwin writes for NewsBlaze from Michigan. Contact him by writing to NewsBlaze.