Kris Kristofferson, considered one of the most prominent American singer-songwriters of his time with songs like “Me and Bobby McGee,” as well as a famous actor, died on Saturday at the age of 88, according to a family statement.
Kristofferson had suffered from memory loss since he was in his 70s. A family representative claimed in a statement that Kristofferson died peacefully at home in Maui, Hawaii, surrounded by family, although no cause of death was given.
Kristofferson was a Renaissance man: an athlete with poet’s perceptions, a former Army officer and helicopter pilot, and a Rhodes scholar who took a job as a janitor, which turned out to be a good professional choice.
Kristofferson began his career as a songwriter in Nashville, the country music capital, writing singles including the Grammy-winning “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” “For the Good Times,” and one-time girlfriend Janis Joplin’s sorrowful No. 1 hit, “Me and Bobby McGee.”
In the early 1970s, he gained fame as a singer with a deep, raw voice, and also became a sought-after actor, particularly known for his role alongside Barbra Streisand in the highly successful 1976 film “A Star Is Born.”
Kristofferson was born on June 22, 1936, in Brownsville, Texas, and his father was an Air Force general, so he moved frequently.
After graduating from Pomona College in California, in which he played football and rugby, Kristofferson went to Oxford University on a Rhodes scholarship before entering the Army in keeping with family customs.
He completed the Army’s exclusive Ranger School, trained to pilot helicopters, and rose to the rank of captain. In 1965, Kristofferson was given a position teaching English in the United States.
He was intrigued by the works of poet William Blake. He was offered admission to the Military Academy in West Point, New York, but declined to relocate to Nashville.
Kristofferson became a janitor at Columbia Records to ensure he could pitch his songs to the big-name stars who were recording there. He also worked as a helicopter pilot, transporting personnel between Louisiana oilfields and offshore drilling rigs.
During that time, Kristofferson wrote several of his most memorable songs, including “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” which he claimed he wrote from an oil platform.
His most brazen song pitch occurred when he landed his helicopter on Johnny Cash’s lawn, however he refuted Cash’s claim that he climbed out of the aircraft with an audio tape in one hand and a beer in the other. Cash later scored a No. 1 hit with Kristofferson’s “Sunday Morning Comin’ Down” lament.