Authorities investigate singer’s passing

Grammy-and Oscar-winning soul singer and composer Isaac Hayes is dead at age 65 after his wife and son found him unconscious on the floor of his Memphis home. Early reports suggest that Hayes may have suffered a simultaneous heart attack and stroke, but his death is under investigation. He was found near a treadmill, which was still activated. Reported attempts to revive the singer, whose biggest hit was the theme from “blaxploitation” film Shaft, failed before he died at a hospital. Police say he was being treated for various medical issues and that no foul play is suspected. Along with recording some of the most soulful music of his times, Hayes made both past and recent film and TV appearances including his roles in the movies Truck Turner, Hustle & Flow and his long-running stint as the voice of the character Chef on Comedy Central’s “South Park.” He won an Academy Award for “The Theme from Shaft” in 1972, telling one interviewer that the song was “like the shot heard ‘round the world.” His live performance of the hit at the Oscar ceremony is listed as one of TV Guide’s 25 most memorable television moments. Recognized for his charitable work in 1992, Hayes was named a king in Ghana. The Tennessee native would’ve celebrated his 66th birthday on Aug. 20. He is survived by his fourth wife Adjowa and 12 children. Click to send well-wishes to the family. For more on the legend’s life and circumstances of his death go to Sound Off.

Comedian Bernie Mac died at Northwestern Memorial hospital in Chicago early this morning, reports the Chicago Sun TImes. The funny standup comedian and star of televison’s popular Bernie Mac show was 50.

Mary Ann Grossett, Mac’s sister-in-law spoke with People Magazine, sharing details of her famous inlaw’s final struggle:

He couldn’t breathe. He opened his eyes on his own and looked at Rhonda (his wife). She called his name, and he opened his eyes and nodded to her. She smiled at him and told him, ‘Don’t leave me … ‘I’m waiting for you to come back.’ He shrugged his shoulders, and she said that’s when she knew he was tired. He signaled to her that his body was tired….

[The doctors] were working on him. They tried to resuscitate him two times. One time he came back for about an hour. Then he went into cardiac arrest the second time.

His cause of death has not been officially reported but Mac has been hospitalized with Pneumonia for about a week, as reported by BET.com last week.

Stella Foster, the Chicago Sun Times reporter who broke the story says “It brought tears to my eyes because Bernie Mac has always been my all-time favorite entertainer and comedian. It pains me to have to report that,” Foster said during a phone interview on Saturday morning.

Entertainment mogul Russell Simmons has a rack of Bernie Mac stories but one particularly funny one stands out. “When he saw the lead-in comedian get booed off stage in his first nationally televised appearance on Def Comedy Jam,” Simmons told BET.com, “he coined one his most, if not his single most loved lines. He said “I aint scared of you mother*******”. And at least for part of his career that became his calling card. I just remembered that and it made me laugh”

Remembering a King of Comedy: See photos and get a timeline of Bernie Mac’s life.