US singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson, a country music legend who notably hit the silver screen opposite Barbra Streisand in “A Star is Born,” has died at the age of 88, his family announced Sunday.
No cause of death was given in a statement issued by the family of the artist, a Country Music Hall of Fame honouree and Grammy winner known for writing hits like “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” and “Me and Bobby McGee.”
Kristofferson performed solo for decades but also formed the supergroup The Highwaymen in the mid-1980s with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson.
In film, the Golden Globe winner was also known for his appearances as Whistler alongside Wesley Snipes in the vampire trilogy “Blade.”
“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” In Hawaii, the family said in a statement carried on his official Facebook page.
“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.”
Born on June 22, 1936, in Brownsville, Texas, Kristofferson moved frequently as a child because his father was in the US military. He attended Pomona College in California and went to Oxford as a Rhodes scholar, according to his official website.
He joined the army, but was still pursuing his interest in music and songwriting. He was offered a teaching job at West Point but decided instead to head to Nashville, where he began to submit songs for others to record.
He finally signed his own record deal and put out a first album in 1970. He would earn success both with his own voice and by providing tunes for other hitmakers.
Cash took “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” to the top of the charts, and Ray Price did the same with “For the Good Times.”
“Me and Bobby McGee” became a posthumous hit for Janis Joplin, who once dated Kristofferson.
“You can look at Nashville pre-Kris and post-Kris, because he changed everything,” Bob Dylan is quoted on Kristofferson’s website as saying.
Kristofferson sang in a raspy voice about loneliness, hard times and romance. One of his heroes was English poet William Blake.
Kristofferson would go on to pivot to acting, where his good looks led to work with directors Sam Peckinpah and Martin Scorsese.
Then came the massive success of “A Star is Born” (1976), in which he played a washed-up rock singer who discovers a new talent (Streisand).
He won the Golden Globe for best actor for the film, a remake of a 1937 movie that was again redone in the 1950s with Judy Garland, and later in 2018 with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga.
Kristofferson’s acting career hit a snag when he starred in the notorious flop “Heaven’s Gate” in 1980, and he struggled with drugs and alcohol, but he went on to take dozens of other TV and film roles.
As a solo artist, his album output tapered off after the 1980s. The Highwaymen recorded three popular albums over a decade, and he collaborated often with Nelson in the years that followed.
Kristofferson toured often until the Covid-19 pandemic, though he suffered from memory loss and announced in early 2021 that he had retired from music.
“He created a body of work that gave voice not only to his soul but to ours,” Country Music Hall of Fame CEO Kyle Young said in a statement.
Kristofferson is survived by his third wife Lisa and his eight children.