Kris Kristofferson, Beloved Actor and Country Singer from A Star Is Born, Passes Away at 88
The entertainment world is mourning the loss of a true icon.
Kris Kristofferson, a talented country music singer-songwriter and actor known for his roles in Blade and the ’70s version of A Star Is Born, has passed away at the age of 88.
He peacefully departed in his home in Maui, Hawaii on September 28, surrounded by loved ones, as confirmed in a statement obtained by E! News.
A native of Texas and a former U.S. Army helicopter pilot, Kristofferson began his music career while studying at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes scholar in the 1950s, achieving fame as a singer-songwriter in the late ’60s.
His solo hits like “Why Me” and duets with then-wife Rita Coolidge on songs like “From the Bottle to the Bottom” and “Lover Please” garnered him Grammys for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group.
Kristofferson was also known for writing successful songs performed by other artists, including “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down,” sung by Johnny Cash—his bandmate in the supergroup the Highwaymen—and “Me and Bobby McGee,” famously interpreted by his then-girlfriend, Janis Joplin, following her tragic death at the age of 27 in 1971.