57 Facts About Kris Kristofferson

Kristoffer Kristofferson was an American singer, songwriter, and actor.

Kris Kristofferson was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a more raw, introspective style.

In September 1971, Kristofferson made his film debut in The Last Movie and devoted much of the later decade to making Hollywood films.

Kris Kristofferson has charted 12 times on the American Billboard Hot Country Songs charts; his highest peaking singles there are "Why Me" and "Highwayman", which reached number one in 1973 and 1985, respectively.

Kris Kristofferson was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.

Kris Kristofferson was a three-time Grammy Award winner, out of 13 total nominations.

Kristoffer Kristofferson was born in Brownsville, Texas, the oldest of three children born to Mary Ann and Henry Kristofferson, a United States Army Air Corps officer.

Kris Kristofferson attended San Mateo High School, where he graduated in 1954.

At age 17, Kristofferson took a summer job with a dredging contractor on Wake Island in the western Pacific Ocean.

Kris Kristofferson called it "the hardest job I ever had".

Kris Kristofferson studied under Frederick Sontag, whom he considers an important influence in his life.

Kris Kristofferson's early writing included prize-winning essays: "The Rock" and "Gone Are the Days" were published in The Atlantic Monthly.

Kris Kristofferson appeared in the March 31,1958, issue of Sports Illustrated for his achievements in collegiate rugby union, American football, and track and field.

Kris Kristofferson was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa society his junior year.

Also in 1958, Kristofferson was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford in Oxford, England, studying at Merton College.

Kris Kristofferson recorded for The Rank Organisation's Top Rank Records label as Kris Carson, but this early phase was unsuccessful.

Also in 1961, Kristofferson joined the United States Army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant.

Kris Kristofferson attended US Army Ranger School and completed helicopter pilot training at Fort Rucker, Alabama.

Kris Kristofferson relocated Beer and their newborn daughter to West Germany, where he served as a member of the 8th Infantry Division.

In 1965, after his tour in West Germany ended, Kristofferson briefly taught English literature at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York.

In June 1965, while on a two-week leave from West Point, Kristofferson contacted Wilkin in Nashville, Tennessee, and decided to become a country music songwriter.

Kris Kristofferson resigned from the Army and relocated his family to Nashville that year, exacerbating his relationship with his parents.

Concurrently, Kristofferson held various jobs including as a bartender, a construction worker, and a railroad worker.

Kris Kristofferson later worked as a janitor for Columbia Records, which afforded him the possibility of talking directly with the artists and a presence during recording sessions.

Kris Kristofferson released his debut single containing his songs "Golden Idol" and "Killing Time" in 1967 on Epic Records.

At the time, Kristofferson worked on the weekends for the Tennessee National Guard.

Cash was impressed and invited Kristofferson to perform with him at the 1969 Newport Folk Festival.

The ten-year contract required Kristofferson to submit ten records containing songs he had written.

In 1969, Kristofferson divorced Beer and left Nashville to join the production of his first motion picture, Dennis Hopper's The Last Movie, in Peru.

Kris Kristofferson collaborated with Marijohn's son, John Buck Wilkin, on "Blame it on the Stones".

Kris Kristofferson's peers encouraged him to reject the role and to take acting lessons instead, but he accepted the part, and later said; "I read the script and I could identify with this cat" and that acting is "understanding a character, and then being just as honest as you can possibly be".

Kris Kristofferson wrote nine of the album's 10 songs, including the single "Lovin' Her Was Easier ".

Kris Kristofferson collaborated with songwriter Shel Silverstein on "The Taker" and keyboardist Donnie Fritts on "Epitaph ".

Kris Kristofferson swept the Grammy Awards that year with numerous songs nominated, winning country song of the year for "Help Me Make It Through the Night".

Kris Kristofferson's fifth album, Spooky Lady's Sideshow, released in 1974, was a commercial failure, setting the trend for most of the rest of his musical career.

Meanwhile, more artists took his songs to the top of the charts, including Willie Nelson, whose 1979 LP release of Sings Kristofferson reached number five on the US Country Music chart and certified Platinum in the US.

Kris Kristofferson's performance is captured on Ernesto Juan Castellanos's documentary Havana Jam '79.

In 1982, Kristofferson joined Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and Brenda Lee on The Winning Hand, a double album consisting of remastered and updated performances of recordings the four artists had made for the Monument label during the mid-1960s; the album reached the top ten on the US country album charts.

Kris Kristofferson married again, to Lisa Meyers, and concentrated on films for a time, appearing in the 1984 releases The Lost Honor of Kathryn Beck, Flashpoint, and Songwriter.

Nelson and Kristofferson both appeared in Songwriter, and Kristofferson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score.

Nelson and Kristofferson continued their partnership, and by 1985, they added Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash to form the supergroup the Highwaymen.

In 1985, Kristofferson starred in Trouble in Mind and released Repossessed, a politically aware album that was a country success, particularly "They Killed Him", a tribute to his heroes, including Martin Luther King Jr.

In 1999, The Austin Sessions was released, an album on which Kristofferson reworked some of his favorite songs with the help of artists such as Mark Knopfler, Steve Earle, and Jackson Browne.

Kris Kristofferson underwent coronary artery bypass surgery shortly after the album's release.

In 1997, Kristofferson co-starred in the film Fire Down Below with Steven Seagal.

Kris Kristofferson reprised the role in Blade II and again in Blade: Trinity.

On October 21,2005, the movie Dreamer was released, in which Kristofferson played the role of "Pop", a retired thoroughbred horse trainer.

Also in 2006, Kristofferson starred with Genevieve Bujold in the film Disappearances about whiskey running from Quebec to the US during the Great Depression.

On June 13,2008, Kristofferson performed an acoustic in-the-round set with Patty Griffin and Randy Owen for a special taping of a PBS songwriters series aired in December.

In December 2009, it was announced that Kristofferson would be portraying Joe on the upcoming album Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, a collaboration between rock singer John Mellencamp and novelist Stephen King.

On June 4,2011, Kristofferson performed a solo acoustic show at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center, showcasing both some of his original hits made famous by other artists, and newer songs.

In early 2013, Kristofferson released a new album of original songs called Feeling Mortal.

In June 2019, Kristofferson was announced as being one of the supporting artists for a Barbra Streisand "exclusive European concert" on July 7 in London's Hyde Park as part of the Barclay's Summertime Concert series.

On September 28,2024, Kristofferson died at his home in Hana, Hawaii, at the age of 88.

Kris Kristofferson previously requested for the first three lines of Leonard Cohen's "Bird on the Wire" on his tombstone:.

In 1961, Kristofferson married his longtime girlfriend Frances "Fran" Mavia Beer, but they divorced in 1969.

Kris Kristofferson continued to play at benefits for the UFW through the 2010s.