American country music star Kris Kristofferson dies, aged 88

Tributes have been paid to award-winning country singer and actor Kris Kristofferson following his death aged 88.

Dolly Parton wrote: “What a great loss. What an amazing writer. What a great actor. What a great friend.”

He wrote on social media with the words “I will always love you” in a nod to his most famous song.

Barbra Streisand said she “knew he was something special” the first time she saw him perform.

Kristofferson and Streisand went on to share top billing in the 1976 remake of A Star Is Born.

In the film, they sang together the love theme Evergreen, which won an Oscar for best original song, and Kristofferson won a Golden Globe for his performance.

Streisand also asked him to appear on stage with her in London’s Hyde Park in 2019.

“He was as good as ever, and the audience gave him a standing ovation. It was a joy to see him get the respect and love he deserved,” he wrote on Instagram.

Kristofferson was known for his songwriting, the critically acclaimed Me and Bobby McGee, and Help Me Make It Through the Night, among others.

“He created a body of work that resonates not only with his soul but with ours,” Country Music Hall of Fame CEO Kyle Young said in a statement.

Kristofferson’s representative said he died “peacefully” at his home in Hawaii on Saturday, surrounded by family.

The statement described Kristofferson as a “peacenik, revolutionary, actor, star, sex symbol, and family man.”

A message from his family said they were all “very blessed” for the time they had with him.

“Thank you for loving her all these years, and if you see a rainbow, know that she is smiling down on us all,” the message said.

Add to his reputation, singer LeAnn Rimes posted a photo of the couple with the message: “A brave man with a big heart. You will always be, greatly missed. Rest easy, my friend.”

Melissa Etheridge added: “Love this man, his talent, his mind and his good heart.”

Reba McEntire wrote: “What a gentleman, a kind soul, and a lover of words. I’m so glad I met him and was around him. One of my favorite people. Rest in peace Kris.”

Born in Brownsville, Texas, on June 22, 1936, Kristofferson became a leading figure in country music.

“When I first started I was one of the people who hoped to bring respect to country music,” he said, according to a family message.

“Some of the songs I had that were hits did that. I think that’s why someone might vote me into the Hall of Fame. I know it’s not because of my golden throat.”

Kristofferson studied writing at Pomona College in California and later went to Oxford as a Rhodes scholar. He got his masters from Oxford in 1960, then returned to the US and joined the army.

He was assigned to the army to teach literature, which he said “felt like hell”.

In 1965 he visited Nashville, and within two weeks he resigned from his position and moved to the country music scene to continue his music career.

The head of the Country Hall of Fame and Museum said he left behind an “amazing legacy”.

Kris Kristofferson believed that art comes from God, and those who ignore such a gift will lose happiness,” wrote Kyle Young in X. “He preached that the life of the mind gives voice to the soul, and his work is silent. not only in his soul but in ours.”

He won three Grammys for best country song, Help Me Make It Through the Night in 1972, and two separate duets with Rita Coolidge (1974, 1976), whom he married in the 1970s.

Kristofferson made his acting debut as John Norman Howard in A Star Is Born opposite Streisand’s Ester Hoffman.

His acting career saw him play many roles, including Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Lone Star, and the Blade franchise.

He was nominated for an Oscar in 1985 for best original score for The Songwriter, in which he co-starred with Willie Nelson.

That same year, Kristfferson and Nelson joined friends Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings to form a supergroup called The Highwaymen.

“Every time I look at a picture of Willie and me and John and Waylon, I find it amazing that they let a security guard in there,” he told reporter Mikhal Gilmore, speaking about his former job at the CBS studio in Nashville.

In 2003, Kristfferson received the Free Speech Award from the Americana Music Association.

A year later, he became a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

He has also received numerous awards throughout his career, including The Recording Academy, Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.

Kristofferson is survived by his wife Lisa, eight children and seven grandchildren.