Kris Kristofferson, legendary songwriter, actor and singer, dead at 88

Kris Kristofferson, the singer, songwriter and actor whose songs were among the most admired not just in country but music in general, has died, according to a post on his official Facebook. He was 88.

“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,” reads the message. “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.”

Kristofferson’s resume was eclectic: Rhodes scholar, U.S. Army veteran, pilot, Golden Gloves boxer and award-winning actor. But it was his famous songs — including “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” and “Help Me Make It Through the Night” — that made him a music legend. No less a luminary than Bob Dylan was once quoted as saying about Kristofferson, “You can look at Nashville pre-Kris and post-Kris, because he changed everything.”

Born Kristoffer Kristofferson in the border town of Brownsville, Texas, on June 22, 1936, he earned a master’s from Oxford, moved to California, joined the Army and became a helicopter pilot — and began writing songs on the side. Inspired by Dylan, he rejected an Army assignment to teach literature at West Point and instead moved to Nashville.

After struggling for several years, and even working as a janitor at the same studio where Johnny Cash and Dylan recorded, Kristofferson got his break when established stars like Tom T. Hall, Ray Price, Roger Miller, Ray Stevens and Cash recorded his songs. Cash’s hit rendition of “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” helped it win the Country Music Association’s Song of the Year trophy in 1970, the same year Kristofferson released his debut solo album.

That album featured “Me and Bobby McGee,” which Janis Joplin recorded before her death in October 1970. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971 and is now known as her signature song.

In 1971, Kristofferson launched his acting career, and over the years he appeared in films like A Star Is Born, which won him a Golden Globe, and Semi-Tough, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, Lone Star and Blade.

In 1985, Kristofferson joined his old pal Johnny Cash in the supergroup The Highwaymen, which also included Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. He also continued his solo career and toured nonstop until 2020. He was a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and won multiple Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Grammy.

When Nelson was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2023, he advocated from the stage for Kristofferson’s induction, as well.

Kristofferson, who dated Joplin and once wed fellow singer Rita Coolidge, is survived by his wife, Lisa, as well as eight children from three marriages and seven grandchildren.