Country Music Star And Actor, Kris Kristofferson, Has Passed Away At 88

Music

Oct 3

Country singer and actor Kris Kristofferson passed away at his home on September 28th 2024, aged eighty-eight. Born in Brownsville, TX, the son of a US Air Force Major General, he excelled at collegiate sports, and pledged Greek. In 1958, he was awarded a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University. But in the United Kingdom, Kristofferson’s career path swerved, and he began to write songs.

Thirteen years later he landed a small role in his first film, (The Last Movie, 1971), a western directed by Dennis Hopper. Interestingly, Toni Basil also had a minor part. The cowboy archetype stuck and more movies followed, including Patt Garrett & Billy The Kid, and Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia.

Kris Kristofferson’s album, The Silver-Tongued Devil and I, hit big in 1971, so when Warner Bros was looking for a household name for their A Star Is Born remake, he was the obvious choice. Kristofferson was paired with an unknown singer, but Barbara Streisand became a household name after the success of the picture. Kris Kristofferson’s own music career continued to skyrocket and over the years he put out twenty-one studio albums, took home three Grammys, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

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In 1998 he was cast as Whistler in the Blade comic book adaptations which revitalised his film career into the new millennium. A string of Hollywood blockbusters followed, including Payback (with Mel Gibson), The Planet of the Apes, He’s Just Not That Into You, and The Dolphin Tale films (with Morgan Freeman).

Kristofferson was an avid antiwar and human rights activist and repeatedly spoke out against the Gulf and Iraq Wars. He campaigned against ‘Proposition 14’ and just before his death he performed at a benefit for children in Palestine.

Kristofferson is survived by eight children, seven grandchildren, and his beloved wife Lisa Meyers.

Dolly Parton, who covered his track, For The Good Times, paid tribute online. "What a great loss. What a great writer. What a great actor. What a great friend."