Kris Kristofferson, an accomplished singer and songwriter who starred in A Star Is Born, has died at the age of 88.
The multitalented entertainer, who was a country singer-songwriter and actor, died Saturday at his Maui, Hawaii home, his rep told People.
The Why Me artist ‘peacefully’ passed away surrounded by relatives, his rep told the outlet.
‘It is with a heavy heart that we share the news our husband/father/grandfather, Kris Kristofferson, passed away peacefully on Saturday, September 28 at home,’ his family said in a statement, the outlet reported. ‘We’re all so blessed for our time with him.
‘Thank you for loving him all these many years, and when you see a rainbow, know he’s smiling down at us all.’
Kris Kristofferson, an accomplished singer and songwriter who starred in A Star Is Born, has died at the age of 88
The Why Me artist was pictured in concert in London in July of 2019
Among his numerous acting achievements, Kristofferson played the role of troubled rocker John Norman Howard in the 1976 A Star Is Born remake opposite Barbra Streisand. He won the Golden Globe in 1977 for his work in the film.
Kristofferson’s other major acting endeavors include a turn as the character Whistler in the Wesley Snipes action films Blade (1998), Blade II (2002) and Blade: Trilogy (2004).
He also starred opposite Ellen Burstyn in director Martin Scorsese’s 1974 film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
Kristofferson was a Rhodes scholar with a deft writing style and rough charisma who became a country music superstar and A-list Hollywood actor, has died.
Starting in the late 1960s, the Brownsville, Texas native wrote such classics standards as Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down, Help Me Make it Through the Night, For the Good Times and Me and Bobby McGee.
Kristofferson was a singer himself, but many of his songs were best known as performed by others, whether Ray Price crooning For the Good Times or Janis Joplin belting out Me and Bobby McGee.
Kristofferson, who could recite William Blake from memory, wove intricate folk music lyrics about loneliness and tender romance into popular country music.
With his long hair and bell-bottomed slacks and counterculture songs influenced by Bob Dylan, he represented a new breed of country songwriters along with such peers as Willie Nelson, John Prine and Tom T. Hall.
Among his numerous acting achievements, Kristofferson played the role of troubled rocker John Norman Howard in the 1976 A Star Is Born remake opposite Barbra Streisand. He won the Golden Globe in 1977 for his work in the film
Kristofferson pictured with Taylor Swift in May of 2012 in Las Vegas at the MGM Arena
Kristofferson and Swift pictured in Nashville, Tennessee in November of 2009
‘There’s no better songwriter alive than Kris Kristofferson,’ Nelson said during a November 2009 award ceremony for Kristofferson held by BMI. ‘Everything he writes is a standard and we’re all just going to have to live with that.’
He was a Golden Gloves boxer and football player in college, received a master’s degree in English from Merton College at the University of Oxford in England and turned down an appointment to teach at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, to pursue songwriting in Nashville.
Hoping to break into the industry, he worked as a part-time janitor at Columbia Records’ Music Row studio in 1966 when Dylan recorded tracks for the seminal Blonde on Blonde double album.
At times, the legend of Kristofferson was larger than real life. Johnny Cash liked to tell a mostly exaggerated story of how Kristofferson, a former U.S. Army pilot, landed a helicopter on Cash’s lawn to give him a tape of Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down’ with a beer in one hand.
Over the years in interviews, Kristofferson said with all respect to Cash, while he did land a helicopter at Cash’s house, the Man in Black wasn’t even home at the time, the demo tape was a song that no one ever actually cut and he certainly couldn’t fly a helicopter holding a beer.
In a 2006 interview with The Associated Press, he said he might not have had a career without Cash.
‘Shaking his hand when I was still in the Army backstage at the Grand Ole Opry was the moment I’d decided I’d come back,’ Kristofferson said. ‘It was electric. He kind of took me under his wing before he cut any of my songs. He cut my first record that was record of the year. He put me on stage the first time.’
One of his most recorded songs, Me and Bobby McGee, was written based on a recommendation from Monument Records founder Fred Foster.
Kristofferson retired from performing and recording in 2021, making only occasional guest appearances on stage. Pictured in 2017 in Nashville
Foster had a song title in his head called Me and Bobby McKee, named after a female secretary in his building. Kristofferson said in an interview in the magazine, Performing Songwriter, that he was inspired to write the lyrics about a man and woman on the road together after watching the Frederico Fellini film, La Strada.
Joplin, who had a close relationship with Kristofferson, changed the lyrics to make Bobby McGee a man and cut her version just days before she died in 1970 from a drug overdose. The recording became a posthumous No. 1 hit for Joplin.
Hits that Kristofferson recorded include Why Me, Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do), Watch Closely Now, Desperados Waiting for a Train, A Song I’d Like to Sing and Jesus Was a Capricorn.
In 1973, he married fellow songwriter Rita Coolidge and together they had a successful duet career that earned them two Grammy awards. They divorced in 1980.
He retired from performing and recording in 2021, making only occasional guest appearances on stage.
As news spread of his passing, a number of people paid memorial to Kristofferson online.
As news spread of his passing, a number of people paid memorial to Kristofferson online
SiriusXM host Eric Alper said, ‘If you ever hummed Me and Bobby McGee or found solace in Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down, then you’ve felt the genius of Kris Kristofferson. A legend in both country music & Hollywood. Rest easy, Kris, your songs and roles live forever in our hearts.’
Entertainment journalist Pam Windsor wrote: ‘So sad to learn about the passing of #KrisKristofferson. He died at home in Hawaii yesterday. He was 88. He was an incredible singer, songwriter, and actor. Also, a Rhodes Scholar, football player, boxer, firefighter, and Army Ranger helicopter pilot. What a life, what a legacy.’
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum CEO Kyle Young said in a statement, ‘Kris Kristofferson believed creativity is God-given, and those who ignore such a gift are doomed to unhappiness. He preached that a life of the mind gives voice to the soul, and his work gave voice not only to his soul but to ours. He leaves a resounding legacy.’
Kristofferson is survived by his spouse Lisa, eight children and seven grandchildren.
