Kris Kristofferson: June 22, 1936 - September 28, 2024
Classic Rock|December 2024
Kris Kristofferson, the iconic, Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and actor who played a key role in advancing a strand of country music into a more raw and confessional direction now recognised as outlaw country, has died peacefully at his home in Maui, surrounded by family. He was 88 years old.
Kris Kristofferson: June 22, 1936 - September 28, 2024

Dolly Parton took to social media to write: "What a great loss. What a great writer. What a great actor.

What a great friend", while Barbra Streisand, with whom Kristofferson shared the spotlight in the 1976 remake of the film A Star Is Born, declared that she had known her co-star was "something special" from the moment that she set eyes on him.

Born in Brownsville, Texas, Kristofferson's remarkable music career saw him release 18 solo studio albums - plus collaborations - during an almost five-decade run that began with Kristofferson in 1970 and ended with 2016's The Cedar Creek Sessions. He was part of the country music supergroup The Highwaymen whose lineup also featured other outlaw country legends Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson.

A stellar career began when, after leaving the army in 1965, he became a night janitor at Columbia Records' studios in Nashville.

This story is from the December 2024 edition of Classic Rock.

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This story is from the December 2024 edition of Classic Rock.

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