MEMPHIS (AP) - Isaac Hayes, the pioneering singer, songwriter and musician whose relentless ``Theme From Shaft'' won
Academy and Grammy awards, has been found dead at home. He was 65.

The Shelby County Sheriff's Office says a family member found
Hayes unresponsive near a treadmill on Sunday. He was pronounced
dead about an hour later at Baptist East Hospital in Memphis. The
cause of death was not immediately known.

In the early 1970s, Hayes laid the groundwork for disco, for
what became known as urban-contemporary music and for romantic
crooners like Barry White. And he was rapping before there was rap.

His career hit another high in 1997 when he became the voice of
Chef, the sensible school cook and devoted ladies man on the
animated TV show ``South Park.''