Recently Dead

Oscar- and Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, and musician Isaac Hayes died today at 65. The Sheriff's Office in Memphis reported that his wife and son found him unresponsive near a treadmill in a bedroom at home and he was pronounced dead about an hour later at Baptist East Hospital. The cause of death was not immediately known, although the family says he had a number of "medical issues," including a stroke in 2006. With the release of his Hot Buttered Soul album in 1969, the bald-headed, bling-laden Hayes became a star and is credited with laying the groundwork for disco, the cool romantic sounds of Barry White, and rap before there was a name for it. In 1971, his "Theme from Shaft" hit #1 and is still a phenomenal piece of work; he called it his "shot heard round the world," and TV Guide ranks his performance of it at the 1972 Academy Awards at 18 on its list of television's 25 most memorable moments. His most recent memorable impact on entertainment was as the voice of school cook Chef on the animated series, South Park, a role he began in 1997 and quit angrily in 2006 after an episode mocked Scientology. (AP)

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