Kris Kristofferson, A-list Hollywood actor, and legend singer dies at 88. He was a Rhodes scholar known for his smooth writing style and country music. On Saturday, he passed away at his Maui, Hawaii, home. His family spokesperson Ebie McFarland said that the legendary actor and singer died peacefully, surrounded by his family and friends. However, the statement did not specify the cause of his demise.
Some of Kristofferson’s popular works as an actor include the films “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” (1974), in which he starred opposite Ellen Burstyn, “A Star Is Born” (1976), where he starred opposite Barbra Streisand, and Marvel’s “Blade” (1998). He also wrote many country and rock ‘n’ roll standards, “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down”. “Help Me Make it Through the Night”, “Me and Bobby McGee”, and “For the Good Times”.
Kris Kristofferson: The Legend
Kris Kristofferson, who could recite William Blake from memory, introduced folk music lyrics about loneliness and gentle romance into popular country music. With his bell-bottomed slacks and long hair, he became more famous with his counterculture songs, influenced by Bob Dylan.
He represented a new breed of country music composers, alongside John Prine, Tom T. Hall, and Willie Nelson. In the mid-1980s, Nelson and Kristofferson teamed up with Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings to form the country supergroup “The Highwaymen”.
At the 2009 BMI award ceremony, Nelson said “There’s no better songwriter alive than Kristofferson, Everything he writes is a standard, and we’re all just going to have to live with that”. Kristofferson retired from recording and performing in 2021, though he made occasional guest appearances on stage thereafter.
In 2023, at the Hollywood Bowl, during Nelson’s 90th birthday celebration, Kristofferson performed with Cash’s daughter Rosanne. He played “Loving Her Was Easier” (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again), a Kristofferson hit that had long been a concert favorite for Nelson.
Kristofferson was a Golden Gloves boxer, football player, and rugby star in college. He received his master’s degree in English from Merton College at the University of Oxford in England. He also served in the U.S. Army, flying helicopters with the rank of Captain.
Later he turned down the appointment as a faculty member at the U.S. Military Academy to pursue his dream of songwriting in Nashville. In 1966, Kristofferson even worked as a part-time janitor at Columbia Records’ Music Row studio when Dylan recorded tracks for the seminal “Blonde on Blonde” double album.
