He found a new focus as an actor in the 1980s, landing a recurring role on "The Rockford Files" and appearing in such films as "Escape From New York," playing the lead villain "The Duke" in the 1981 film, and 1995's "Johnny Mnemonic."
A new generation came to know him from "South Park," the animated series that gave him his most famous role as the voice of Chef. Hayes used the role of the suave cafeteria master to poke fun at his macho image and broaden his audience.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday, August 12, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 41 words Type of Material: Correction
Isaac Hayes obituary: The obituary of singer Isaac Hayes in Monday's Section A said that after the 1975 album "Chocolate Chip," Hayes didn't release new material until "Love Attack" in 1986. In fact, Hayes released several albums in that time period.
When he was offered the part by Matt Stone and Trey Parker, "South Park's" creators, Hayes thought they were playing a joke on him, but they assured him they were not.
Hayes said he responded, "You all some crazy white boys!"
In 2006, Hayes quit "South Park" after an episode mocked Scientology, the religion that Hayes practiced. He felt the episode showed bigotry and intolerance toward his religious beliefs. Stone responded by saying that Hayes had no problem with the episodes that made fun of Christians. Later, the character of Chef was seemingly killed off.
At the same time he was rediscovered through "South Park," younger musicians such as soul singers D'Angelo and Alicia Keys and the hip-hop duo Outkast began making music inspired by Hayes. Already much-sampled by hip-hop artists, Hayes enjoyed a renewed influence as R&B artists came back toward his lush, adventurous style.
Keys called Hayes' effect on her "major."
"One of the reasons 'You Don't Know My Name' is six minutes and six seconds is because of Mr. Isaac Hayes," she once said on VH-1. "He's really changed the face of music in so many ways. . . . The way he just kind of extended songs to the point where they would be strings for three minutes before the song even began."
Hayes was born Aug. 20, 1942, in a tin shack in rural Covington, Tenn., the second child of Isaac and Eula Hayes. When he was about 18 months old, his mother died and his father left the family, so Hayes and his older sister were raised by his sharecropper grandparents.
At 5, he made his public singing debut in church.
Trying to pull themselves out of bitter poverty, his grandparents moved to Memphis when he was 6 but remained poor. To help support his family, Hayes alternated between going to school and working in the cotton fields on nearby plantations.
"I used to dream, just dream about being able to have a warm bed to sleep in and a nice square meal and some decent clothes to wear," Hayes told Ebony magazine in 1970.
