LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� Kris Kristofferson, a Rhodes scholar with a deft writing style and rough charisma who became a country music superstar and an A-list Hollywood actor, has died.
died at his home on Maui, Hawaii on Saturday, family spokeswoman Ebie McFarland said in an email. He was 88.
McFarland said Kristofferson died peacefully, surrounded by his family. No cause was given.
Starting in the late 1960s, the Brownsville, Texas native wrote such country and rock 鈥榥鈥� roll standards as 鈥淪unday Mornin鈥� Comin鈥� Down,鈥� 鈥淗elp Me Make it Through the Night,鈥� 鈥淔or the Good Times鈥� and 鈥淢e and Bobby McGee,鈥� which became his best-known song as a posthumous hit for Janis Joplin.
He starred opposite in director Martin Scorsese鈥檚 1974 film 鈥淎lice Doesn鈥檛 Live Here Anymore,鈥� starred opposite Barbra Streisand in the 1976 鈥淎 Star Is Born,鈥� and acted alongside Wesley Snipes in Marvel鈥檚 鈥淏lade鈥� in 1998.
Kristofferson, who could recite the poems of William Blake from memory, wove folk music lyrics about loneliness and tender romance into popular country music. He represented a new breed of country songwriters along with such peers as Willie Nelson, and Tom T. Hall.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no better songwriter alive than Kris Kristofferson,鈥� Nelson said at a 2009 BMI award ceremony for Kristofferson.
from performing and recording in 2021, making only occasional guest appearances on stage.
Nelson and Kristofferson would join forces with Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings to create the country supergroup 鈥淭he Highwaymen鈥� starting in the mid-1980s.
Kristofferson was a Golden Gloves boxer, rugby star and football player in college; received a master鈥檚 degree in English from the University of Oxford; and flew helicopters as a captain in the U.S. Army but 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鈥� Music Row studio in 1966 when Dylan recorded tracks for the seminal 鈥淏londe on Blonde鈥� double album.
At times, the legend of Kristofferson was larger than real life. Cash liked to tell a mostly exaggerated story of how Kristofferson landed a helicopter on Cash鈥檚 lawn to give him a tape of 鈥淪unday Mornin鈥� Comin鈥� Down鈥� with a beer in one hand. Over the years in interviews, Kristofferson said with all respect to Cash, the Man in Black wasn鈥檛 even home at the time, the demo tape was a song that no one ever actually cut and he certainly couldn鈥檛 fly a helicopter holding a beer.
He later said he might not have had a career without Cash.
鈥淗e kind of took me under his wing before he cut any of my songs,鈥� Kristofferson said in a 2006 interview with The Associated Press. 鈥淗e cut my first record that was record of the year. He put me on stage the first time.鈥�
One of his most recorded songs, 鈥淢e and Bobby McGee,鈥� was written based on a recommendation from Monument Records founder Fred Foster. Foster had a song title in his head called 鈥淢e and Bobby McKee,鈥� named after a female secretary in his building. Kristofferson said in an interview in the magazine, 鈥淧erforming Songwriter,鈥� that he was inspired to write the lyrics about a man and woman on the road together after watching the Frederico Fellini film, 鈥淟a Strada.鈥�
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.
The formation of the Highwaymen, with Nelson, Cash and Jennings, was another pivotal point in his career as a performer. He told the AP in 2005 it was 鈥渦nreal鈥� to be a peer with men who鈥檇 been his heroes.
鈥淚t was like seeing your face on Mount Rushmore,鈥� he said.
The group put out just three albums between 1985 and 1995. Jennings died in 2002 and Cash died a year later. Among the four, only Nelson is now alive.
His first film role was in Dennis Hopper鈥檚 鈥淭he Last Movie,鈥� in 1971.
Along with his leading-man roles, he had a fondness for Westerns.
He was the young title outlaw in director Sam Peckinpah's 1973 鈥淧at Garrett and Billy the Kid,鈥� a truck driver for the same director in 1978's 鈥淐onvoy鈥� and a corrupt sheriff in director John Sayles' 1996 鈥淟one Star.鈥�
He told the AP in 2006 how he got his first acting gigs when he performed in Los Angeles.
鈥淚t just happened that my first professional gig was at the Troubadour in L.A. opening for Linda Rondstadt,鈥� Kristofferson said. 鈥淭here were a bunch of movie people coming in there, and I started getting film offers with no experience. Of course, I had no experience performing either.鈥�
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Hall reported from Nashville. AP National Writer Hillel Italie contributed to this report.
Andrew Dalton And Kristin M. Hall, The Associated Press
