Kris Kristofferson RIP

Singer, songwriter, actor, athlete, military man. Kris Kristofferson, who has died aged 88, was all of these, and a lot more. Born into a military family he was a successful athlete when he attended Pomona Collage in California and won a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford University where he won a boxing Blue and played rugby for the college. He came into contact with Larry Parnes who got him a recording contract with Top Rank under the name Kris Carson, although no records were released. He joined the US Army and rose to the rank of Captain, but left in 1965 to pursue a career in music and struggled for several years to make a name for himself in Nashville, giving tapes of his songs to June Carter, while also working as a helicopter pilot in Louisiana. His songwriting blossomed with 'Help Me Make It Through the Night' and 'Me and Bobby McGee', and a number of his songs were recorded by country artists, including Johnny Cash, Roy Drusky, Ray Stevens, Jerry Lee Lewis, Faron Young and Roger Miller. He signed with Monument records and released an album - 'Me and Bobby McGee' - which took off when the song was recorded by Janis Joplin. After four successful albums his recording career was put to one side as he concentrated on acting, appearing in such films as 'Cisco Pike', 'Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid' and 'A Star Is Born', which won him a Golden Globe award for Best Actor. He recorded an album with his second wife Rita Coolidge and although his record sales slumped somewhat he continued to write songs for other artists. In the eighties he teamed up with Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash to form the Highwaymen, which prompted two successful albums. His career continued through to 2019 when he appeared in Hyde Park supporting Barbra Streisand as part of the Barclays Summertime Concert series. Kris always had a fairly rough voice but as a songwriter he was in the top tier, with countless memorable songs over the years. RIP