Written by Bill Trott
(Reuters) – Kris Kristofferson, who became one of the most influential American singer-songwriters of his time with works such as “Me and Bobby McGee” as well as a successful actor, died on Saturday at the age of 88, Rolling Stone reported. , according to his spokesman.
Kristofferson had suffered from memory loss since his 70s.
Kristofferson was a Renaissance man—an athlete with poetic sensibilities, a former Army officer and helicopter pilot, and a Rhodes scholar who landed a job as a janitor in what turned out to be a brilliant career move.
Kristofferson first established himself in the music world as a songwriter in the country music capital of Nashville – where he wrote hits like the Grammy Award-winning “Help Me Make It Through the Night” and “For the Good Times” for his ex-girlfriend Janis. Joplin’s No. 1 sad song is “Me and Bobby McGee.”
In the early 1970s, he became known as an actor with a growling, unpolished baritone, as well as an in-demand performer, most notably opposite Barbra Streisand in “A Star Is Born,” one of the most popular films of 1976.
Born in Brownsville, Texas, on June 22, 1936, Christopherson moved frequently because his father was an Air Force general. After graduating from Pomona College in California, where he played football and rugby, Kristofferson attended Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship and then fulfilled a family tradition by joining the Army.
He attended the Army’s elite Ranger School, learned to fly helicopters and reached the rank of captain. In 1965, Kristofferson – who was fascinated by the works of poet William Blake – was offered a position teaching English at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, but he turned down the offer in order to head to Nashville.
Kristofferson became a janitor at a Columbia Records studio because it would give him a chance to present his songs to the big stars recording there. He also worked as a helicopter pilot transporting workers between Louisiana oil fields and offshore drilling rigs.
During that period, Kristofferson wrote some of his most memorable songs, including “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” which he said he wrote on top of an oil rig.
His most daring song came when he landed his helicopter in Johnny Cash’s park – although he denied Cash’s account of emerging from the cockpit holding an audio tape in one hand and a beer in the other. Cash would later have a No. 1 hit with Kristofferson’s lament “Sunday Morning Comin’ Down.”
“There’s nothing left to lose”
Kristofferson’s best songs were full of seekers, wasters, and broken souls trying to find love, redemption, or relief from the hangover that life had given them. The heartbroken narrator of “Bobby McGee,” a song Kristofferson said was inspired by Federico Fellini’s film “La Strada,” summed it up with the phrase, “Freedom is just another word for having nothing left to lose.”
Willie Nelson, an early role model for Kristofferson, told CBS: “Chris kind of brought (country music) out of the Dark Ages to the present day, made it acceptable and gave great lyrics — I mean the best lyrics possible.” “60 Minutes” in a 1999 interview. “Simple but profound.”
Kristofferson recorded four albums with Rita Coolidge, the second of his three wives, in the 1970s and joined Nelson, Cash and Waylon Jennings in the country music supergroup the Highwaymen in the 1980s and 1990s.
Kristofferson’s rugged good looks led to roles in such films as “Cisco (NASDAQ:) Pike,” “Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid,” “The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea,” “Convoy,” and “Heaven’s Gate.” “Lone Star” and “Blade”.
Kristofferson had a difficult life during his heyday. There was a long line of girlfriends and proposals that he couldn’t remember because he was drunk. He stopped drinking alcohol, but not marijuana, when the doctor told him he was killing himself.
“It was fun,” Kristofferson told 60 Minutes. “It was the way I thought an artist was supposed to live. I always agreed with Blake when he said the path of excess leads to a palace of wisdom… I believe God protects fools and songwriters.”
After his initial stardom, Kristofferson embraced causes such as the United Farm Workers Union and spoke out against U.S. government involvement in Nicaragua and El Salvador in the 1980s.
Kristofferson began suffering from debilitating memory loss in his mid-70s and his performance suffered because of it. Doctors told him it appeared to be the beginning of Alzheimer’s disease, which may have been caused by blows to the head while boxing and playing football and rugby in his younger days.
But in 2016, his wife, Lisa, told Rolling Stone that Kristofferson had been diagnosed with Lyme disease, which can cause memory problems, and that after treatment and stopping his Alzheimer’s medication, his memory began to partially return.
Kristofferson kept active with a 2016 tour that included shows with Nelson and stops in Europe. That year, he also celebrated his 80th birthday by releasing “The Cedar Creek Sessions,” an album featuring live versions of his most famous songs.
Kristofferson and his third wife, Lisa, whom he married in 1983, lived on the Hawaiian island of Maui for more than 30 years. He had eight children.
(Writing and reporting by Bill Trott; Editing by Diane Craft)