Kris Kristofferson, the US country music legend and 'A Star Is Born' actor, has died at the age of 88.
The singer-songwriter died peacefully at his home in Maui, Hawaii on Saturday, family spokesperson Ebie McFarland said.
No cause of death was given but the musician had been suffering from memory loss since he was in his 70s.
Born in Brownsville, Texas Kristofferson started his music career in the mid-1960s.
Despite being a singer himself, many of his songs were best known as performed by others - including Ray Price's US number one hit 'For the Good Times' and Janis Joplin's 1971 single 'Me And Bobby McGee'.
In the mid-1980s he joined forces with Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings to create the country supergroup The Highwaymen, releasing three albums before all four returned to their solo careers.
Former bandmate Nelson said there was "no better songwriter alive" when talking about Kristofferson during a 2009 awards ceremony.
"Everything he writes is a standard and we're all just going to have to live with that," Nelson said.
Kristofferson won a Grammy Award for hit 'Help Me Make It Through The Night' and was inducted into the county music hall of fame in 2004.
As an actor, he won the 1976 Golden Globe Award for best actor after his performance in romantic drama 'A Star Is Born' opposite Barbra Streisand.
The film was a remake of the 1937 original with Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, and was later adapted into a musical starring Judy Garland and James Mason - and subsequently again in 2018 starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.
Promotional photo of Kris Kristofferson in 1978. Image: Pictorial Press Ltd / AlamyKristofferson also appeared opposite Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese's 1974 film 'Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore' and alongside Wesley Snipes in Marvel's 'Blade' in 1998.
Before the stage and screen, Kristofferson was a boxer with US organisation Golden Gloves and later turned down an opportunity to teach at a US military academy in New York to pursue songwriting in Nashville.
He also gained a master's degree in English at the University of Oxford.
Hoping for a break into the industry, he worked as a part-time caretaker at Columbia Records' Music Row studio.
In a 2006 interview, Kristofferson said he might not have had a career without Johnny Cash, who he said put him on stage for the first time.
Joplin, who he had a close relationship with, changed the lyrics to make Bobby McGee a man and cut her version just days before she died in 1970 from a drug overdose. The song became a posthumous number one hit for Joplin.
Kris Kristofferson comforts Sinead O’Connor after she was booed on-stage during a Bob Dylan anniversary concert at New York's Madison Square Garden, 17-10-92. Image: Associated Press / AlamyKristofferson also paid tribute to Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor after showing support for her at an October 1992 concert in New York City.
O'Connor was booed when she appeared on-stage just days after famously ripping up a photo of Pope John Paul II on live TV to protest the Catholic Church, saying, 'Fight the real enemy.'
Lyrics in the song include: "It's asking for trouble to stick out your neck in terms of a target, a big silhouette, but some candles flicker and some candles fade - and some burn as true as my sister Sinéad".
The song also mentions "that bald headed brave little girl" who is "too old for breaking and too young to tame".
In 1973, Kristofferson married fellow songwriter Rita Coolidge who he had a successful duet career with, earning two Grammy Awards. They divorced in 1980.
He is survived by his wife Lisa, his eight children and seven grandchildren.
Tributes
Dolly Parton led fans and fellow musicians and actors in paying tribute to Kristofferson.
She described his passing as a "great loss" and said: "I will always love you".
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Streisand paid tribute to Kristofferson in a post on social media, saying: "The first time I saw Kris performing at the Troubadour club in L.A. I knew he was something special.
"Barefoot and strumming his guitar, he seemed like the perfect choice for a script I was developing, which eventually became A Star Is Born.
"My thoughts go to Kris' wife, Lisa who I know supported him in every way possible."
The first time I saw Kris performing at the Troubadour club in L.A. I knew he was something special. Barefoot and strumming his guitar, he seemed like the perfect choice for a script I was developing, which eventually became A Star Is Born.
In the movie, Kris and I sang the… pic.twitter.com/WDdU2zoUwD— Barbra Streisand (@BarbraStreisand) September 30, 2024
Chief executive for the Country Music Hall of Fame Kyle Young said that Kristofferson left "a resounding legacy."
Others paying tribute include Wynonna Judd, Kim Cattrall and Marcia Cross who he acted alongside.
Reporting by IRN
