Oscar-winning soul singer Isaac Hayes died in Memphis, aged 65
He was perhaps best known for the 1971 hit Theme from Shaft for which he won several awards, including an Oscar for best song.
He was also the voice of Chef on the hit cartoon series South Park.
Along with Al Green, James Brown and Stevie Wonder, Hayes was one of the dominant black artists in the early 1970s.
Isaac Hayes was born on 20 August 1942, in Covington, Tennessee, and raised by his grandparents after being orphaned.
He joined Memphis soul label Stax Records in 1963 as a session musician, songwriter and producer, and often subbed for the label's primary keyboardist, Booker T. Jones.
He eventually teamed with lyricist David Porter to write and produce songs for the soul duo Sam and Dave, including Soul Man.
Solo career
With his shaved head, dark shades, extravagant clothing and plentiful jewelry, Hayes was groomed as a star by Stax executives.
He released his debut album, the poor-selling Presenting Isaac Hayes in 1968. The singer broke through the following year with Hot Buttered Soul, which contained just four songs but sold over a million copies.
Hayes' work on director Gordon Parks' urban crime drama Shaft, a project he had hoped to star in, was the first of many forays into movie soundtracks.
He got in front of the camera for the 1974 cult classic Truck Turner and kept busy with film work.
Hayes left Stax in a dispute over royalties in 1975, the year the faltering label went bankrupt.
He filed for bankruptcy shortly thereafter and lost all his songwriting royalties.
In his later years, Hayes reached a new audience by supplying the voice for Chef, the libidinous sage on the cartoon series South Park.
But he left the show a few years ago because he disagreed with its attacks on Scientology, the religious movement to which he belonged.
Hayes was found unconscious at his home on Sunday, and rushed to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. The cause of death was not immediately known.
Hayes, who once said he was a "health fanatic," was reportedly found unconscious near a running treadmill at his home. In early 2007, he suffered a stroke.
