Kris Kristofferson, the lauded country singer, songwriter and actor who saw hundreds of artists record his songs, died on Saturday at his home in Maui, Hawaii. He was 88.
Family spokeswoman Ebie McFarland announced Kristofferson’s passing in an email, acknowledging that he died peacefully and surrounded by family, per The Associated Press. McFarland did not share a cause of death.
Originally from Brownsville, Texas, Kristofferson’s career took off in the late 1960s, when he began writing country and rock n’ roll music. After forgoing a career in the military, Kristofferson moved to Nashville where he worked as a janitor at Columbia Records and observed Bob Dylan record his album, “Blonde on Blonde,” as noted by The Hollywood Reporter.
Kristofferson’s first big hit was “For the Good Times” in 1970, followed by “Sunday Morning Coming Down” later that year, which Kristofferson’s mentor and friend, singer Johnny Cash recorded. In a 2006 interview with The AP, Kristofferson spoke about the role Cash played in his own career. “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.”
While Kristofferson did sing himself, his greatest hits were those performed by others, including Ray Price singing “For the Good Time,” Janis Joplin howling “Me and Bobby McGee,” and the Grateful Dead, Michael Bublé, Gladys Knight and the Pips and Al Green all bringing his music to life.
Kristofferson was well-versed in poetry and often imbued his country songs with lyrics grounded in themes of love and loneliness. “Steeped in a neo-Romantic sensibility that owed as much to John Keats as to the Beat Generation and Bob Dylan, Mr. Kristofferson’s work explored themes of freedom and commitment, alienation and desire, darkness and light,” Bill Friskics-Warren of The New York Times wrote in an obituary published Monday. This sensibility led Kristofferson to find company with the likes of singers Roger Miller and Willie Nelson. “We took it seriously enough to think that our work was important, to think that what we were creating would mean something in the big picture,” Kristofferson said of the like-minded singer-songwriters in an interview with the journal No Depression in 2006. “Looking back on it, I feel like it was kind of our Paris in the ’20s,” he said. “Real creative and real exciting — and intense.”
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Kristofferson was similarly prolific in his acting career as he was in his capacity to be a hit-generating songwriter. His first role was in Dennis Hopper‘s “The Last Movie,” in 1971, followed by a spate of Western films. One of Kristofferson’s most memorable roles came in 1976 when he starred alongside Barbra Streisand in the musical drama, “A Star Is Born.” Actor Bradley Cooper reprised the film in 2018, directing it and serving as a lead opposite to Lady Gaga.
As news of Kristofferson’s death spread, a number of A-listers who knew him personally have made statements intended to honor the multihyphenate’s memory. Streisand shared a series of Instagram posts on Sunday and Monday paying tribute to her “A Star Is Born” co-star.
“The first time I saw Kris performing at the Troubadour club in L.A. I knew he was something special,” she wrote in a Sunday post. “Barefoot and strumming his guitar, he seemed like the perfect choice for a script I was developing, which eventually became ‘A Star Is Born.’ In the movie, Kris and I sang the song I’d written for the film’s main love theme, ‘Evergreen.'”
“For my latest concert in 2019 at London’s Hyde Park, I asked Kris to join me on-stage to sing our other ‘A Star Is Born’ duet, ‘Lost Inside Of You,’ Streisand continued. “He was as charming as ever, and the audience showered him with applause. It was a joy seeing him receive the recognition and love he so richly deserved.”
Country singer Dolly Parton shared her own thoughts on Sunday as well, taking to her Instagram to celebrate the life of her “great friend.”
“What a great loss, what a great writer, what a great actor, what a great friend,” she wrote, signing her message, “I will always love you.”
“What a gentleman, kind soul, and a lover of words,” singer and actor Reba McEntire posted on X/Twitter. “I am so glad I got to meet him and be around him. One of my favorite people. Rest in peace, Kris.”
Singer-songwriter LeAnn Rimes wrote on the platform that Kristofferson was “an epic human with the biggest heart. You will be so, so missed. rest easy, my friend.”
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