| "Theme from Shaft" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 One of side-A labels of the US single | ||||
| Single by Isaac Hayes | ||||
| from the album Shaft | ||||
| B-side | "Cafe Regio's" | |||
| Released | September 30, 1971 | |||
| Recorded | 1971, Stax Recording Studios, Memphis, Tennessee | |||
| Genre | Soul, funk, disco | |||
| Length | 3:15 (single edit) 4:34 (album version) | |||
| Label | Enterprise ENA-9038 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Isaac Hayes | |||
| Producer(s) | Isaac Hayes | |||
| Isaac Hayes singles chronology | ||||
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| Lyric video | ||||
| Isaac Hayes – "Theme from Shaft" (single version) on YouTube | ||||
"Theme from Shaft", written and recorded by Isaac Hayes in 1971, is the soul and funk-styled theme song to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film Shaft.[1] The theme was released as a single (shortened and edited from the longer album version) two months after the movie's soundtrack by Stax Records' Enterprise label. "Theme from Shaft" went to number two on the Billboard Soul Singles chart (behind "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" by Marvin Gaye) and to number one on the Billboard Hot 100[2] in the United States in November 1971, and number one in Canada in December.[3] The song was also well received by adult audiences, reaching number six on Billboard's Easy Listening chart[4] and number four in Canada.[5] The song is considered by some to be one of the first disco songs.[6][7]
The following year, "Theme from Shaft" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song,[1] with Hayes becoming the first African American to win that honor – or any Academy Award in a non-acting category – as well as the first recipient of the award who both wrote and performed the winning song. Since then, the song has appeared in numerous television shows, commercials, and other movies, including the 2000 sequel Shaft, for which Hayes re-recorded the song.[8][9] In 2004, the original finished at number 38 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top songs in American cinema.
In 1972, at the 14th Annual Grammy Awards, Isaac Hayes won two Grammys, one for Best Instrumental Arrangement for "Theme from Shaft" and one for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special for Shaft.[10]
In 1999, the 1971 recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[11]
- ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 136. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 249.
- ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles - December 11, 1971" (PDF).
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001. Record Research. p. 112.
- ^ "RPM MOR PLaylist - November 4, 1971" (PDF).
- ^ "Disco Savvy: 1972–1974 Disco". www.discosavvy.com.
- ^ Echols, Alice (March 29, 2010). Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 9780393066753 – via Google Books.
- ^ Douglas Wolk (2005). "The Greatest Songs Ever! Theme from Shaft". Blender. Archived from the original on October 19, 2006. Retrieved September 6, 2006.
- ^ Alex Pappademas (2000). "Shafted: The baddest "theme from" ever". Boston Phoenix. Retrieved September 6, 2006.
- ^ "Issac Hayes". www.grammy.com. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
- ^ "GRAMMY Hall Of Fame | Hall of Fame Artists". Grammy.com.