Kris Kristofferson, country music singer-turned movie star, dies at 88

FILE – Kris Kristofferson poses for a portrait in Nashville, Tenn., Aug. 15, 1995. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

LOS ANGELES – Kris Kristofferson, the ragged country music star who wrote “Me and Bobby McGee” and “Help Me Make It Through the Night” and later found fame as a leading man in such 1970s films as “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid,” “A Star is Born” and “Heaven’s Gate,” has died at the age of 88, his family said Sunday.

Kristofferson died Saturday at his home in Maui, Hawaii, according to a statement from his family. No cause of death was given.

“It is with a heavy heart that we share the news our husband/father/grandfather, Kris Kristofferson, passed away peacefully on Saturday, Sept. 28 at home,” the statement said. “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.

Born in Brownsville, Texas, to a military family, Kristofferson moved around a lot as a child and attended Pomona College, where he excelled as an athlete and was also a Phi Beta Kappa. In 1958, he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford in England.

He started singing in England before joining the US Army, but later left the military and moved to Nashville to pursue his musical career.

His early success was in writing songs for other artists, including Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roger Miller. He released his self-titled debut album as a singer in 1970, one year before Janis Joplin scored a No. 1 hit with her version of Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee.”

Kristofferson released three more albums in the ensuing two years and began acting in major Hollywood films, including “Cisco Pike,” “Blume in Love,” “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid,” “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” and “Semi-Tough.”

The same down-home charm that appealed to music fans made him a respected actor despite his lack of theatrical training, and his turn in 1976’s “A Star is Born” opposite another singing star-turned actress, Barbra Streisand, helped make Kristofferson one of the era’s biggest sex symbols.

Kristofferson continued acting in the 1980s and 1990s, when his credits included “Rollover,” “Trouble in Mind” “Lone Star” and “Blade.”

He also continued recording and performing music, playing with Cash, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson among others.

He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. He officially retired in January 2021.

Kristofferson, who had been previously married and divorced and briefly dated Joplin, married singer Rita Coolidge in 1973, divorcing her in 1980. He married Lisa Meyers in 1983.

Kristofferson is survived by his wife Lisa; his eight children, Tracy, Kris Jr., Casey, Jesse, Jody, John, Kelly and Blake; and his seven grandchildren. (CNS)