The Texan musician and actor, multi-awarded for his compositional talents, died on Saturday September 28. He was 88 years old.
“When you see a rainbow, know that it is the one that smiles on us all.” It is with these words that those close to Kris Kristofferson announced his death, in a publication posted Sunday September 30 on Facebook. The country powerhouse, singer-songwriter is “died peacefully on Saturday at his home”, writes his family. He was 88 years old.
Before co-founding the supergroup The Highwaymen, alongside Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, the Texan based in Nashville – the birthplace of country – had composed a slew of songs in his name. Many of them are remembered, starting with Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down (1969) et Me and Bobby McGee (1970), covered by Janis Joplin.
The artist is said to have even inspired Bob Dylan musically: “There is Nashville before Kris, and Nashville after Kris. Because he changed everything”, praises the latter on Kris Kristofferson’s website.
Plural success, from music to cinema
A writing talent that has earned him several Grammy Awards, in addition to joining the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004. Boasting a career spanning 50 years, the musician performed on stage until he was 84 years old.
Far from confining himself to music, Kris Kristofferson also distinguished himself in cinema in the 1970s. He also won a Golden Globe in 1976 for his role in A star is born by Frank Pierson – film where he starred opposite Barbra Streisand. The artist had also been noticed in Pat Garrett et Billy the Kidby Sam Peckinpah, with James Coburn, in 1973.
