Kris Kristofferson country singer, songwriter, and actor died on Saturday 28 September 2024.
His songwriting credits include “Me and Bobby McGee”, “For the Good Times”, “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down”, and “Help Me Make It Through the Night“. They all became hits for other artists.
Kristofferson was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.
In 1958, Kristofferson was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford, studying at Merton College. He was awarded a Blue for boxing, played rugby for Merton, and began writing songs. At Oxford he began his early music career unsuccessfully, but he graduated with a Bachelor of Philosophy in English literature.
Under pressure from his family he joined the U.S. Army, attaining the rank of captain. He became a helicopter pilot.
After his tour in West Germany ended, Kristofferson was given an assignment to teach English literature at West Point. Instead, he left the Army to pursue songwriting. His family disowned him as a result.
After leaving the army in 1965, Kristofferson moved to Nashville. Struggling for success in music, he worked at odd jobs including one as a commercial pilot. He and his wife divorced in 1968.
He wrote “Help Me Make It Through the Night” sitting on top of an oil platform.
Kristofferson’s break came after he met June Carter and Johnny Cash, her husband. Upon hearing “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down”, Cash recorded it, and in 1970 Kristofferson won Song of the Year for the song at the Country Music Association Awards.
Within the next few years, more Kristofferson originals hit the charts, performed by artists like Ray Stevens, Jerry Lee Lewis,, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and Waylon Jennings. “For the Good Times” (Ray Price) won “Song of the Year” in 1970 from the Academy of Country Music, while “Sunday Morning Comin’ Down” (Johnny Cash) won the same award from the academy’s rival, the Country Music Association, in the same year.
In 1971, Janis Joplin had a number one hit with “Me and Bobby McGee”.
Kristofferson’s second album in 1971 established his career as a recording artist.
Soon after, Kristofferson made his acting debut, and for several years he focused on acting. He appeared with actors like Gene Hackman, Burt Reynolds, Jane Fonda, Treat Williams. He appeared in three Sam Peckinpah films, in Martin Scorsese‘s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), and many more. He made over 75 films.
Kristofferson’s songwriting garnered 48 BMI Country and Pop Awards.
In 1961, Kristofferson married his longtime girlfriend Frances “Fran” Mavia Beer, but they divorced in 1969. Kristofferson briefly dated Janis Joplin before her death in October 1970.
He married singer Rita Coolidge with whom he also performed, in 1973: they were divorced by 1980. Kristofferson married Lisa Meyers in 1983.
Kristofferson had eight children from his three marriages: two from his first marriage, one from his second, and five from his third marriage.
Kristofferson said that he would like the first three lines of Leonard Cohen’s “Bird on the Wire” on his tombstone:
Like a bird on the wire
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free
[Photo: Screenshot/The Ultimate Expedition]