Country songsmith, singer, and famed actor Kris Kristofferson passed away at 88, on Saturday, September 28.
He reportedly died “peacefully,” in the midst of family members in his Maui home.
“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,” Kristofferson’s family told People magazine.
“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 fell in love with country music at a very young age, writing his first song at only 11 years old. Magazine Atlantic Monthly had also published short stories he had written at 18; he found his way onto the cover page of an issue of Sports Illustrated in his senior year, for his athletic and academic accomplishments.
Within five years of enlisting in the US army, Kristofferson became a helicopter pilot and earned the rank of captain. He formed a band with fellow soldiers in the ‘60s, and left the army in 1965.
Working as a night janitor in Columbia Studios, Nashville, Kristofferson wrote “For the Good Times” and “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down.” Soul music legend Al Green covered the former, which was nominated for the Grammys best country song of 1972. Country music icon Johnny Cash’s rendition of “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” was hailed song of the year at the 1970 CMA Awards and topped Billboard’s country music chart. Kristofferson kept making music in the 70’s, two of his releases being “Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again)” and the twice Grammy-nominated “Why Me.”
Kristofferson’s big break on the big screen was in playing rockstar John Norman Howard in A Star is Born. His performance won him a Golden Globe for best actor in 1977.
