Hidden Black Greatness

♥THE FIVE HEARTBEATS REUNION
Top photo Left to right: Leon Robinson, Hawthorne James
Tico Wells, Michael Wright, Harry Lennix, John Terrell, and Robert Townsend.

The Five Heartbeats is a 1991 musical drama film directed by Robert Townsend, who co-wrote the script with Keenen Ivory Wayans. Produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox, the film's main cast includes Townsend, Michael Wright, Leon Robinson, Harry J. Lennix, Tico Wells, Harold Nicholas, and Diahann Carroll.

The plot of the film (which is loosely based on the lives of several artists: The Dells, The Temptations, Four Tops, Wilson Pickett, James Brown, Frankie Lymon, Sam Cooke and others) follows the three decade career of the rhythm and blues vocal group The Five Heartbeats. The film depicts the rise and fall of a Motown inspired soul act through the eyes of one of the Heartbeats, Donald "Duck" Matthews.

LITTLE KNOWN FACT

▪Keenan Ivory Wayans was Supposed to be JT

It’s hard to imagine anyone else playing the role of Ladie’s Man, “JT,” made famous by Leon Robinson. Though he played the role to a tee, it wasn’t meant for him initially.

Keenan Ivory Wayans, who wrote the script for the movie, along with Townsend, was supposed to play JT. Leon told Black Voices how he ended up getting the role.

“I didn’t know Robert before then. He saw me at the MTV awards with Madonna, and told me he saw me in her video ‘Like a Virgin.’ I think Keenan Ivory Wayans was supposed to play the role in the film but he got ‘In Living Color,’ and he couldn’t do it. Before that happened, Robert wanted me to do the film.”

▪Duck’s Sister Almost Didn’t Make the Cut

The scene where Duck sings with his little sister, as she’s cleaning the room, is one of the most memorable in the film, but it was a last minute addition that almost didn’t make the cut. The studio wasn’t too keen on Townsend singing lyrics off of pieces of balled up paper lying around the room. However, Tressa Thomas’ voice was so unbelievable, it was worth keeping.

AWARDS & NOMINATIONS

▪1992 ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards
Most Performed Songs in a Motion Picture for the song "Nights Like This."
(Won)

▪1992 Image Awards (NAACP)
(Nominated)

16-Year-Old Hattie McDaniel in 1910.

Hattie McDaniel (June 10, 1893 – October 26, 1952) was an American actress, singer-songwriter, and comedian. McDaniel made history when she became the first Black person to win an Oscar (Gone With the Wind 1939). She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In addition to acting, McDaniel recorded 16 blues sides between 1926 and 1929 and was a radio performer and television personality; she was the first Black woman to sing on radio in the United States. Although she appeared in more than 300 films, she received on-screen credits for only 83. Her best known other major films are Alice Adams, In This Our Life and Since You Went Away.

ACHIEVEMENTS

▪In 1975, she has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was also inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame

▪In 2006, she became the first Black Oscar winner honored with a U.S. postage stamp.

▪In 2010, she was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame.

The whereabouts of McDaniel's Oscar are currently unknown. In 1992, Jet magazine reported that Howard University could not find it and alleged that it had disappeared during protests in the 1960s.

🎉HAPPY BIRTHDAY TATYANA ALI

Tatyana Marisol Ali (born January 24, 1979) is an American actress and singer best known for her role as Ashley Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from 1990 to 1996. She starred as Tyana Jones on the TV One original series Love That Girl!, and played a recurring role as Roxanne on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless from 2007 to 2013.

Ali was born in North Bellmore, New York. In 1985, 6-year-old Ali began her acting career as a regular performer on the PBS children's educational program Sesame Street. Her tenure included an appearance with jazz great Herbie Hancock, who demonstrated his Fairlight CMI synthesizer using a sample of Ali's voice. She also appeared in two episodes of Star Search, one of which featured her performance of a cover of Marvin Gaye's and Tammi Terrell's hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".

She made her breakthrough in 1990 when she was cast as Ashley Banks on the NBC television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, a role she played throughout the series' entire run, from 1990 to 1996.

Ali's vocal talent was featured on several episodes of Fresh Prince in later seasons, prompting the show's star Will Smith to ask her if she would seriously consider pursuing a musical career. In the series' final season, however, Ali performed several songs, and she began to be cleaned for her musical debut, the culmination of which was her debut album Kiss The Sky in 1998. It was certified gold in early 1999, only months after its release, and spawned the Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins-produced hit single "Daydreamin'", released July 21, 1998, which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also appeared on the UK Singles Chart. The album spawned two further UK hits, "Boy You Knock Me Out" featuring Will Smith—which peaked at No. 3 and is her biggest hit to date—and "Everytime", which was her third top-20 hit in the UK, peaking at No. 20. She made an appearance on Smith's album Willennium on the track "Who Am I" with MC Lyte. She performed the title song "Sunny Valentine" along with Terrence Quaites for the indie film Rockin' Meera in 2005. In early 2008, she performed on the song "Yes We Can", a will.i.am project supporting Barack Obama's presidential campaign. She also appeared in the subsequent music video, which garnered coverage on the "What the Buzz" segment of ABC's World News Now. In January 2014, Ali released an EP titled Hello, whose first single was "Wait For It", which she performed on The Arsenio Hall Show on February 4, 2014.

Ali continued to land roles in films such as The Brothers, Glory Road, and Nora's Hair Salon (and its sequel), among others. From 2009 to 2010 she produced and starred in the BET web series Buppies. She was on recurring status on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless as Roxanne from 2007 to 2013. Ali starred in the TV One original series Love That Girl! as Tyana (whose name was derived from Ali's given name). In 2013, she co-starred as Maya in the BET comedy Second Generation Wayans, alongside Craig Wayans and Damien Dante Wayans.

Ali attended Harvard University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in African-American Studies and Government in 2002. She traveled the United States as a spokesperson for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, and headed voter registration drives at college campuses.

Ali married Dr. Vaughn Rasberry, assistant professor of English at Stanford University, on July 17, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California. The couple has two sons.

AWARDS & NOMINATIONS

▪2011: Recipient, Living Legacy Award

NAACP Image Awards
▪1996: Won, Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
▪1997: Nominated, Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
▪2010: Nominated, Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama – The Young and the Restless
▪2011: Nominated, Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series – Love That Girl!
▪2011: Won, Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama – The Young and the Restless
▪2012: Won, Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama – The Young and the Restless
▪2012: Nominated, Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series – Love That Girl!
▪2013: Nominated, Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series – Love That Girl!

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards
▪1996: Nominated, Favorite Television Actress – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Young Artist Awards
▪1991: Won, Outstanding Young Comedienne in a Television Series – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
▪1992: Nominated, Outstanding Young Comedienne in a Television Series – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
▪1993: Nominated, Outstanding Young Comedienne in a Television Series – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
▪1994: Nominated, Outstanding Young Comedienne in a Television Series – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
▪1995: Nominated, Outstanding Young Comedienne in a Television Series – Name Your Adventure

🎉HAPPY 66TH BIRTHDAY JENIFER LEWIS

Jenifer Jeanette Lewis (born January 25, 1957) is an American actress. She began her career appearing in Broadway musicals and worked as a back-up singer for Bette Midler before appearing in films Beaches (1988) and Sister Act (1992). Lewis is known for playing roles of mothers in the films What's Love Got to Do With It (1993), Poetic Justice (1993), The Preacher's Wife (1996), The Brothers (2001), The Cookout (2004), Think Like a Man (2012) and in the sequel Think Like a Man Too (2014), Baggage Claim (2013) and The Wedding Ringer (2015), as well as in The Temptations miniseries (1998).

Lewis was born in Kinloch, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Lewis is the youngest of seven children. She sang in her church choir at the age of five. She attended Kinloch High School, where she was Captain of the cheerleading squad. She also was President of the class from 7th grade through senior year.

She later attended college at Webster University in Webster Groves, Missouri. She received an honorary degree from Webster in 2015. After college, Lewis moved to New York.

Soon after she arrived in New York City, Lewis debuted on Broadway in a small role in Eubie (1979), the musical based on the work of Eubie Blake. She next landed the role of Effie White in the workshop of the Michael Bennett–directed musical Dreamgirls, but when the show moved to Broadway, Bennett chose Jennifer Holliday for the role.

After Lewis relocated to Los Angeles, she began appearing in television sitcoms, including Murphy Brown, Dream On, In Living Color, Roc, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and Friends. From 1992 to 1993, she played Dean Davenport in the sixth and final season of the NBC sitcom A Different World. She also had a recurring role as Will Smith's Aunt Helen in the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from 1991 to 1996. As a series regular, Lewis starred alongside Patricia Wettig in her short-lived legal drama Courthouse in 1995, playing Judge Rosetta Reide.

Lewis is known unofficially as "The Mother of Black Hollywood" (also the name of her memoir) given her frequent matriarchal film and television roles. She also provided the voice for Mama Odie in Disney's animated feature The Princess and the Frog (2009), and Flo in Pixar's Cars series. Additional film roles include Dead Presidents (1995), Cast Away (2000) and Hereafter (2010).

On television, Lewis starred as Lana Hawkins in the Lifetime medical drama Strong Medicine from 2000 to 2006. She also had recurring roles on sitcoms A Different World, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Girlfriends. In 2014, Lewis began starring as Ruby Johnson in the ABC comedy series Black-ish, for which she received two Critics' Choice Television Award nominations.

NOMINATIONS & HONORS

▪1993 NAACP Image Award
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
What's Love Got to Do With It as Zelma Bullock

▪1996 NAACP Image Award
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
The Preacher's Wife as Marguerite Coleman

▪2006 NAMIC Vision Awards
Best Performance – Drama
Strong Medicine Receptionist as Lana Hawkins

▪2009 Annie Award
Voice Acting in a Feature Production
The Princess and the Frog Mama Odie (voice)

▪2011 Black Reel Award
Best Actress in a Television Miniseries or Movie
Five as Maggie Television film

▪2011 NAACP Image Award
Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
Five as Maggie Television film

▪2011NAMIC Vision Awards
Best Performance – Drama
Five as Maggie Television film

▪2013 Acapulco Black Film Festival Award
Best Ensemble Cast
Baggage Claim as Catherine Moore

▪2016 Critics' Choice Television Award
Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series
Black-ish as Ruby Johnson

▪2017 Critics' Choice Television Award
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Black-ish as Ruby Johnson

▪2017 Black Reel Award
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Black-ish as Ruby Johnson

▪2017 & 2018 Screen Actors Guild Award
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
Black-ish as Ruby Johnson

▪2017 Black Reel Award
Outstanding Voice Performance
Cars 3 Flo (voice)

▪2022 Lewis was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

IT IS NEVER TOO LATE...

Carolyn Doelling, 74, shares how she became a model after retiring. Doelling had never considered modeling until two years ago, when she was asked if she would be interested during a visit to a California boutique. Now she's a face of designers in print, social media and on the runway.

Doelling had a long career in the banking, telecommunications and nonprofit sectors, but when she retired at 70 she couldn't help but notice the change in the way the world viewed her.

Now she's on a mission to change the fashion and advertising industries and show how people can reinvent themselves later in life, after she admittedly felt "invisible" in retirement.

"It didn't take me long to realize that people have much lower expectations of what I could accomplish, and I also noticed that I started to feel invisible," she said. "So my first thought was I need to do something about that, because I'm not invisible."

"My aspiration is just to be the role model for other people to look and say, 'You know what, she's 74 years old, she's rebooted and reinvented herself, and maybe I could do that, too."

Doelling takes pride in being the type of older model not often seen in advertising. She is part of a group of women looking to redefine beauty, including 73-year-old Maye Musk, who became a CoverGirl brand ambassador at 69, and Ernestine Stollberg, who became a fashion sensation in 2017 at 95 years old.

She was able to land some socially-distant modeling jobs during the pandemic that kept her active, and now she has a goal of walking the runway for a designer in fashion capitals like New York, Paris or Milan.

"I say I'm bucking height-ism, ageism, hair-ism, colorism," she said. "I got all the 'isms' covered.

Rare Photo of seven-foot-tall 17-year-old Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr.,(later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) in 1965. He was known as Lew Alcindor when he played at Power Memorial high school in New York City, where he led their team to 71 consecutive wins.

College recruiters pursued the center with intensity. Although he was an epic talent, Alcindor eschewed the spotlight. He referred each scout to his coach.

"I want two things from college," Alcindor said. "I want to be treated like Lew Alcindor. I want an education."

Eventually he settled on UCLA. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, winning three consecutive national championships under head coach John Wooden. Alcindor was a record three-time most outstanding player of the NCAA tournament.

Drafted with the first overall pick by the one-season-old Milwaukee Bucks franchise in the 1969 NBA draft, he spent six seasons with the team. After leading the Bucks to their first NBA championship at age 24 in 1971, he changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Using his trademark skyhook shot, he established himself as one of the league's top scorers.

In 1975, he was traded to the Lakers, with whom he played the final 14 seasons of his career, during which time the team won five additional NBA championships. Abdul-Jabbar's contributions were a key component in the Showtime era of Lakers basketball. Over his 20-year NBA career, his teams succeeded in making the playoffs 18 times and got past the first round 14 times; his teams reached the NBA Finals on ten occasions.

At the time of his retirement at age 42 in 1989, Abdul-Jabbar was the NBA's regular season career leader in points (38,387), games played (1,560), minutes (57,446), field goals made (15,837), field goal attempts (28,307), blocked shots (3,189), defensive rebounds (9,394), and personal fouls (4,657). He remains the all-time leader in minutes played and field goals made. He ranks second in career points and field goal attempts, and is third all-time in both total rebounds (17,440) and blocked shots.

Abdul-Jabbar has also been an actor, a basketball coach, a best-selling author, and a martial artist, having trained in Jeet Kune Do under Bruce Lee and appeared in his film Game of Death (1972).

ESPN named him the greatest center of all time in 2007, the greatest player in college basketball history in 2008, and the second best player in NBA history (behind Michael Jordan) in 2016.

In 2012, Abdul-Jabbar was selected by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be a U.S. global cultural ambassador. In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

ATHLETIC HONORS

▪Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (May 15, 1995)
▪NYC Basketball Hall of Fame - Inaugural Class, 1990
▪College
2× Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year (1967, 1969)
2× Oscar Robertson Trophy winner (1967, 1968)
2× UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1967, 1969)
3× Consensus first-team All-American (1967–1969)
3× NCAA champion (1967–1969)
3× NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player (1967–1969)
Naismith College Player of the Year (1969)
3× First-team All-Pac-8 (1967–1969)
National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame (2007)
NBA
Rookie of the Year (1970)
6× NBA champion (1971, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)
2× NBA Finals MVP (1971, 1985)
6× NBA MVP (1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980)
6× Sporting News NBA MVP (1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980)
19× NBA All-Star (1970–1977, 1979–1989)
15× All-NBA
10× First team (1971–1974, 1976–1977, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1986)
5× Second team (1970, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1985)
11× NBA All-Defensive Team
5× First team (1974, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1981)
6× Second team (1970, 1971, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1984)
Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" (1985)
Elected to the NBA 35th Anniversary Team
One of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996)
Elected to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team (2021)

November 16, 2012 – a statue of Abdul-Jabbar was unveiled in front of Staples Center in Los Angeles

Paulette McWilliams(December 10, 1948) grew up on Chicago's South Side. McWilliams joined the Chicago-based rock band The American Breed in 1969 as the band's sound shifted from psychedelic rock towards a more soul and R&B sound. Over the next several years, the band personnel shifted and names changed several times, finally settling on the name Rufus in 1970.

McWilliams served as the primary female lead vocalist for the first two years of the band's existence, but voluntarily left the group in 1972, as she was exhausted from touring and wished to spend more time with her family. McWilliams recommended her own replacement, her best friend Chaka Khan, who herself would go on to lead the band through their most successful period.

"I told them, 'My best buddy; Chaka Khan sings her butt off.'”

After leaving Rufus, McWilliams moved to Los Angeles and spent the next five decades as one of the most in-demand backup singers in the industry. She worked with Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross, Aretha Franklin, The Jacksons, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones and as a member of Bette Midler's backing group the Harlettes, among many others. She also has recorded more than 500 commercials and jingles.

Guitarist Phil Upchurch recommended her to producer Quincy Jones, who used her extensively on his Body Heat promotional tour, singing backing and lead vocals. Upon returning from the tour, she performed on Jones's next album Mellow Madness. Jones became busy with his production of The Wiz, allowing McWilliams to seek other singing work. She landed with Ralph MacDonald as a songwriter and singer and performed backing vocals on works by Patti Austin among others.

In the late 1970s, she became a duet partner with Johnny Mathis, performing with him for several years and appearing on his 1980 album Different Kinda Different. Over the same time period, she continued to work with Quincy Jones, appearing on the Michael Jackson album Off the Wall and its hit single "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough".

After working with Mathis, she auditioned for an open spot in Bette Midler's backing group the Harlettes, which she got, and ended up touring in support of her stage show The Divine Miss M, including an eight-week run on Broadway. Through Midler, she became introduced to Luther Vandross, whom she would work with from 1982 until 2002, singing on every album he recorded during this period.

Throughout the 1980s, she continued to perform backing vocals for artists from many genres, singing on David Bowie's "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)", on Billy Idol's cover of "Mony Mony" and "Hot in the City", singing and touring with Aretha Franklin on her Jump to It album and on the supporting tour, and on tour with Marvin Gaye following his release of Midnight Love and singing all of the Tammi Terrell duets with Marvin.

She moved to New York in 1986, by which time she was working extensively with Luther Vandross, who was now a major star, including on his album Power of Love. She toured with Vandross on all of his tours from 1984 to 2000. During this time, Luther included Paulette on many background vocal sessions that he worked on as a producer, for artists including Irene Cara, Brecker Brothers, Diana Ross, Patti LaBelle, and Whitney Houston.

Since 2000, she has recorded and toured with Mary J. Blige, Celine Dion, Michael Buble, Jennifer Lopez, and Steely Dan, as part of their cadre of backing singers known as "The Danettes".

Actor Jason Isaacs and producer Caitrin Rogers sought her input in recruiting fellow backing singers for the documentary 20 Feet from Stardom; McWilliams was on tour in Russia at the time of filming and was disappointed that she could not appear in the film herself, and thought the film misrepresented backing singers as dissatisfied with their roles.

McWilliams solo album, A Woman's Story, was released in 2020.

RARE PHOTO OF ACTRESS NIA LONG WITH HER SISTER COMEDIAN SOMMORE & THEIR FATHER POET DOUGHTRY LONG: Nia Long played on Friday(1995) & Sommore played on Friday After Next(2002)

Sommore previously revealed that she and half-sister actress Nia Long didn’t have a close bond growing up because they weren’t raised together. The women have different mothers but share the same father.

For years, fans of the stars had no idea they were related. During a previous interview, Sommore explained how she didn’t want it known that she had a famous sibling because she wanted to navigate Hollywood without the help of her A-list sister.

🎉HAPPY BIRTHDAY MALCOLM-JAMAL WARNER
Malcolm-Jamal Warner (born August 18, 1970) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for his role as Theodore Huxtable on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show (1984–1992), which earned him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the 38th Primetime Emmy Awards. He is also known for his roles as Malcolm McGee on the UPN sitcom Malcolm & Eddie (1996–2000), and Dr. Alex Reed in the sitcom Reed Between the Lines (2011, 2015).

🎉🎈HAPPY HEAVENLY BIRTHDAY ISAAC HAYES

Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, songwriter, actor, and producer. He has been one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a session musician and record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the mid-1960s. Hayes and Porter were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 in recognition of writing scores of songs for themselves, the duo Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, and others. In 2002, Hayes was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

After his mother died young and his father abandoned his family, he was raised by his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Willie Wade Sr. The child of a sharecropper family, he grew up working on farms in the Tennessee counties of Shelby and Tipton. At age five Hayes began singing at his local church; he taught himself to play the piano, Hammond organ, flute, and saxophone.

Hayes dropped out of high school, but his former teachers at Manassas High School in Memphis encouraged him to complete his diploma, which he did at age 21. After graduating from high school, Hayes was offered several music scholarships from colleges and universities. He turned down all of them to provide for his immediate family, working at a meat-packing plant in Memphis by day and playing nightclubs and juke joints several evenings a week in Memphis and nearby northern Mississippi. His first professional gigs, in the late 1950s, were as a singer at Curry's Club in North Memphis, backed by Ben Branch's houseband.

Hayes began his recording career in the early 1960s, as a session musician for acts recorded by the Memphis-based Stax Records. "Soul Man", written by Hayes and Porter and first performed by Sam & Dave, was recognized as one of the most influential songs of the past 50 years by the Grammy Hall of Fame. It was also honored by The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, by Rolling Stone magazine, and by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) as one of the Songs of the Century. During the late 1960s, Hayes also began a career as a recording artist. He had several successful soul albums such as Hot Buttered Soul (1969) and Black Moses (1971). In addition to his work in popular music, he worked as a composer of musical scores for motion pictures.

Hayes was known for his musical score for the film Shaft (1971). For the "Theme from Shaft", he was awarded the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1972. He became the third black person after Hattie McDaniel and Sidney Poitier, to win an Oscar in any competitive field covered by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He also won two Grammy Awards for that same year. Later, he was given his third Grammy for his music album Black Moses.

In 1992, Hayes was crowned honorary king of the Ada region of Ghana in recognition of his humanitarian work there. He acted in motion pictures and television, such as in the movies Truck Turner and I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, and as Gandolf "Gandy" Fitch in the TV series The Rockford Files (1974–1980). He voiced the character Chef from the animated Comedy Central series South Park from its debut in 1997 until 2006. His influences were Percy Mayfield, Big Joe Turner, James Brown, Jerry Butler, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, and psychedelic soul groups like The Chambers Brothers and Sly and the Family Stone.

On August 5, 2003, Hayes was honored as a BMI Icon at the 2003 BMI Urban Awards for his enduring influence on generations of music makers. Throughout his songwriting career, Hayes received five BMI R&B Awards, two BMI Pop Awards, two BMI Urban Awards and six Million-Air citations. As of 2008, his songs generated more than 12 million performances.