Kris Kristofferson, country star and actor, dies at 88

American actor and country star Kris Kristofferson died Saturday at the age of 88, his family announced Sunday. He notably inspired Bob Dylan and played in the cinema alongside Barbra Streisand.

“Kris Kristofferson died peacefully at home on Saturday” in Hawaii, his relatives announced on his Facebook site. “When you see a rainbow, know that it is he who smiles on us all”they added.

Winner of a Golden Globe in 1976 for his role alongside Barbra Streisand in A star is bornKris Kristofferson also distinguished himself in Pat Garrett et Billy the Kid by Sam Peckinpah, with James Coburn, in 1973.

Author notably of the classics Sunday Mornin’Comin’Down (1969) et Me and Bobby McGee (1970), covered by Janis Joplin, Kristofferson was a leading country singer-songwriter, like Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, with whom he formed The Highwaymen.

“There is Nashville before Kris, and Nashville after Kris”

Winner of several Grammy Awards, he joined the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004.

Born June 22, 1936 in Brownsville, Texas, Kris Kristofferson first embraced a military career, like his father, before settling in Nashville, the Mecca of country music, writing there notably Sunday Mornin’Comin’Down for Johnny Cash.

“There is Nashville before Kris, and Nashville after Kris. Because he changed everything”underlined Bob Dylan, quoted by Kristofferson’s site.

The singer with the hoarse voice, who throughout his life nurtured a passion for the English poet William Blake, continued to perform regularly on stage until his artistic retirement at the age of 84, in 2021.