Country music songwriter and legend of the genre Kris Kristofferson passed away at his home in Maui, Hawaii, on Saturday, September 28. Reports say he passed peacefully, and no official cause of death has been given at this time. A statement was released the following day on behalf of his family:
“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.” The statement reads. “We’re all so blessed for our time with him. Thank you for loving him all these years, and when you see a rainbow, know he’s smiling down at us all.”
Kristofferson’s career in music, while now storied, was not a turbulence-free rise to fame. He began writing his songs and essays while attending college in Oxford, England, where he would later become a Rhodes Scholar. After leaving the United States Army in 1965, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he landed a job mopping the hallways and sweeping the corridors of Columbia Records.
There, he’d meet June Carter and later Johnny Cash, who would give that lowly janitor a chance on a little tune he’d penned titled “Sunday Morning Coming Down.” The story goes that Kristofferson would get his idol’s attention by landing a helicopter in Cash’s backyard, a demo reel in one hand and a beer in the other. His persistence and bravado would convince Cash to record the song in 1970, with Kristofferson later winning Songwriter of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards.
After that, Kristofferson’s career would skyrocket to new heights. Quickly, he would become renowned for the wit and wisdom delivered throughout his songwriting, paired with a demeanor that radiated an authenticity rarely known to country and Americana prior. A former English teacher and poet, Kristofferson offered a more sophisticated yet always humble view into the depths of the American psyche. Right after his explosion onto the scene came maybe his biggestcommercial and critical success in “Help Me Make It Through The Night,” from his debut self-titled LP Kristofferson. He and vocalist Sammi Smith would take home Best Country Song on its behalf in 1972.
A pioneer of the outlaw movement and a fourth of The Highwaymen, Kristofferson was no stranger to success, both critical and commercial, throughout his nearly five-decade career. His successes came in solo outings, penning mega-hits for collaborators, and being an integral part of the outlaw movement’s second wind alongside the likes of Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, and Willie Nelson. Stoicism and a critical yet lived-in view of the American way of life would have his records acclaimed by country fanatics and its harshest critics.
“He is a poet rather than a musician, more concerned with interpretation than the quality of voice,” Wrote Paul Hemphill of The New York Times. “He is at once blunt and mystical, above petty prejudices, strongly appealing to both the campus and intellectual sets. He is an important link between country, pop, and underground music.”
His triumphs would not stop there. In the 1970s, Kristofferson would pivot his looks and charisma toward the silver screen, making his debut as an actor. He starred in over 50 films in his lifetime, the most notable of which came to him alongside Barbara Streisand in the 1976 musical drama A Star Is Born. The film received enormous critical acclaim, including the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and cemented Kristofferson as a threat on two fronts in entertainment.
A soldier and a poet all wrapped into one man, Kris Kristofferson offered an effete worldview that most of his peers didn’t aspire to or simply couldn’t compete with. Masculinity, freedom, and everything in between were defined differently between the lines of a song he’d written than anywhere else. He was outspoken about public strife yet never too quick to mention its effect on him. His platform was communal, where he’d use his voice to uplift those he deemed deserving of amplification. Famously, he showed solidarity with Irish songwriter Sinead O’Connor after her public protest of the Roman Catholic Church on Saturday Night Live. His response to her critics is a line maybe as memorable as anything he’d ever written.
“Maybe she’s crazy, maybe she ain’t,” Kristofferson said, “but so was Picasso, and so were the saints.”
Kristofferson’s legacy is expansive and multi-faceted yet still somehow understated. He was quick to refer to himself as a writer before listing any other occupation and never seemed too keen to have the spotlight pointed directly at him. Nevertheless, the ripple effect he left on country music and writing as an art form is still felt today and will continue to be in the future. Humility, in his instance, was arguably a weapon as great as his pen. When asked about his time with The Highwaymen in an interview with Mikal Gilmore, his self-perception and effortless wit can be seen on full display:
“Every time I look at a picture of Willie and me and John and Waylon, I find it amazing that they let the janitor in there.”
Kris Kristofferson is survived by his wife, Lisa, eight children, and seven grandchildren.
