Isaac Hayes(1942-2008)
- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
Isaac Hayes, the second-born child of Eula and Isaac Hayes Sr., was raised
by his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Willie Wade Sr. The child of a poor family,
he grew up picking cotton in Covington, Tennessee. He dropped out of high
school, but later his former high-school teachers to get his diploma, which
he earned when he was 21.
Otis Redding,
Johnnie Taylor,
The Bar-Kays, and
Booker T. Jones (later of
Booker T. & the M.G.s fame) were
some of the "Memphis Sound" musical luminaries Hayes worked with during
his early years as a budding musician and vocalist. He was a
multi-talented composer, singer, and arranger who played the piano,
vibraphone, and saxophone equally well. In 1971 he won an Academy Award
for Best Original Song for a Motion Picture for the "Theme from Shaft"
(1970) and was nominated for Best Original Dramatic Score for
Shaft (1971).
