It’s hard to pinpoint just who or what Kris Kristofferson really was.
He was a Rhodes scholar, a country music superstar, both as a singer and songwriter, and a Hollywood actor.
Now, those who knew him are mourning his death.
Kristofferson, 88, died at his home in Maui, Hawaii, on Saturday, family spokesperson Ebie McFarland said in an email, per CNN.
McFarland said Kristofferson was surrounded by his family when he died. No cause of death was given.
Actor turned country singer Russell Crowe posted on X, formerly Twitter, “Kris Kristofferson. What a life he led. Good company. Great man. See you down the road old mate.”
Barbra Streisand, who starred with Kristofferson in “A Star Is Born” in 1976.
“For my latest concert in 2019 at London’s Hyde Park, I asked Kris to join me on-stage to sing our other A Star Is Born duet, ‘Lost Inside Of You.’ He was as charming as ever, and the audience showered him with applause. It was a joy seeing him receive the recognition and love he so richly deserved,” she wrote, in part, on X.
Kristofferson and singer Dolly Parton collaborated on many duet performances including “From Here to the Moon and Back” and “Put It Off Until Tomorrow.”
“What a great loss. What a great writer. What a great actor. What a great friend,” she wrote on X. “I will always love you, Dolly”
Kristofferson starting writing songs in the late 1960s, such as “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down,” “Help Me Make it Through the Night,” “For the Good Times” and “Me and Bobby McGee.”
Although Kristofferson was a singer, he penned many of his songs for others like “For the Good Times” for Ray Price and “For the Good Times” and “Me and Bobby McGee” for Janis Joplin.
He also became an actor, starring opposite Ellen Burstyn the 1974 film “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” and Wesley Snipes in Marvel’s “Blade” in 1998.
“There’s no better songwriter alive than Kris Kristofferson,” Willie Nelson said during a 2009 award ceremony honoring Kristofferson held by BMI. “Everything he writes is a standard and we’re all just going to have to live with that.”
He was a Golden Gloves boxer and received a master’s degree in English from Merton College at the University of Oxford in England.
He turned down an appointment to teach at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, to go to Nashville to pursue songwriting.
In 1973, he married Rita Coolidge, a fellow songwriter and singer, and together they won two Grammy awards. The couple divorced in 1980.
He retired from performing and recording in 2021 and only made occasional guest appearances on stage.
