Kris Kristofferson, country music legend and Golden Globe winner, dies at 88
Kris Kristofferson, the country music legend and winner of the Golden Globe for best actor, died yesterday at the age of 88 at his home in Hawaii, the family spokeswoman reported on Sunday.
The Texan artist died peacefully surrounded by his family at his home in Maui (Hawaii), reported Ebie McFarland, the star’s spokesperson.
Kristofferson marked a milestone in country music and was part of the “Highwaymen”, who together with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash, brought together the best country singers of their time in 1985.
Born as Kristoffer Kristofferson in Brownsville, Texas, on June 22, 1936, the musician “changed the language of country music” by touching on socially progressive themes, said his representative.
Legend in music and cinema
The artist marked a period in American music. Rolling Stone magazine considered him “one of the best composers of all time” and his influence spread country music beyond its boundaries.
He came into music by working in the maintenance of “Columbia Records”, the studio where some of his most admired artists such as Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan recorded.
This was after abandoning a promising career in the army, which took him to Germany in the early 60s, and which came from family influence.
He studied literature at the University of Oxford, knowledge that surely served him well in composing his songs once he renounced military life.
Songs that, after rising to fame in the late 60s, would have been performed by more than 450 artists after a decade, when he had also made the leap to the big screen.
Kristofferson was not only a singer-songwriter, but also marked an era in Hollywood, where he appeared in more than 70 films, including “A Star is Born” in 1976, in which he shared the screen with Barbra Streisand and earned him a Golden Globe for best actor.
He also participated in the “Blade” saga and a series of other important titles, although what really marked his life was music.
His credits include classics such as “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down,” “Help Me Make it Through the Night,” “For the Good Times” and “Me and Bobby McGee.”
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