User:Sjones23/Kris Kristofferson

Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He 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. Some of his most famous songs include "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night", all of which became hits for other artists.

Kristofferson was born in Brownsville, Texas; the family relocated to San Mateo, California during his childhood. After being briefly drafted into military service in the early 1960s, he began his music career in 1970 with the release of his debut album Kristofferson. In September 1971, Kristofferson made his film debut in The Last Movie and devoted much of the later decade to making Hollywood films. Some of his most famous films include A Star Is Born (1976), Heaven's Gate (1980), and the Blade film trilogy (1998–2004).

Kristofferson was also a member of the country music supergroup the Highwaymen between 1985 and 1995. He 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. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. He was a three-time Grammy Award winner, out of 13 total nominations.

Life and career

1936–1961: early years

Kristoffer Kristofferson was born in Brownsville, Texas, to Mary Ann (née Ashbrook) and Lars Henry Kristofferson, a United States Army Air Corps officer (later a major general in the United States Air Force). During Kristofferson's childhood, his father encouraged him to pursue a military career.

Kristofferson moved around frequently as a youth because of his father's military service, and the family settled in San Mateo, California. After graduating from San Mateo High School in 1954, he enrolled at Pomona College, hoping to become a writer. His early writing included prize-winning essays: "The Rock" and "Gone Are the Days" were published in The Atlantic Monthly. These stories touch on the roots of Kristofferson's passions and concerns. "The Rock" is about a geographical feature resembling the form of a woman, while the latter was about a racial incident.

At the age of 17, Kristofferson took a summer job with a dredging contractor on Wake Island in the western Pacific Ocean. He called it "the hardest job I ever had".

Kristofferson attended Pomona College and experienced his first national exposure in 1958, appearing in the March 31 issue of Sports Illustrated for his achievements in collegiate rugby union, American football, and track and field. He and his classmates revived the Claremont Colleges Rugby Club in 1958, and it remains a Southern California rugby institution. Kristofferson graduated in 1958 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, in literature. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa his junior year. In a 2004 interview with Pomona College Magazine, Kristofferson mentioned philosophy professor Frederick Sontag as an important influence in his life.

In 1973, Kristofferson received an honorary doctorate in fine arts from Pomona College during Alumni Weekend, accompanied by fellow performers Johnny Cash and Rita Coolidge. His award was presented to him by his aforementioned mentor, Professor Sontag.

In 1958, Kristofferson was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford, studying at Merton College. While at Oxford, he was awarded a Blue for boxing, played rugby for his college, and began writing songs. At Oxford, he became acquainted with fellow Rhodes scholar, art critic, and poet Michael Fried. With the help of his manager, Larry Parnes, Kristofferson recorded for Top Rank Records under the name Kris Carson. Parnes was working to sell Kristofferson as "a Yank at Oxford" to the British public; Kristofferson was willing to accept that promotional approach if it helped his singing career, which he hoped would enable him to progress toward his goal of becoming a novelist.

This early phase of his music career was unsuccessful. In 1960, Kristofferson graduated with a B.Phil. in English literature. In 1961, he married his longtime girlfriend, Frances "Fran" Mavia Beer.

1961–1965: military service

Kristofferson, under pressure from his family, joined the United States Army in 1961 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant, attaining the rank of captain. He became a helicopter pilot after receiving flight training at Fort Rucker, Alabama. He also completed Ranger School. During the early 1960s, he was stationed in West Germany as a member of the 8th Infantry Division. During this time, he resumed his music career and formed a band. In 1965, after his tour in West Germany ended, Kristofferson taught English literature at the United States Military Academy. Instead, he decided to leave the Army to pursue his music career. His family disowned him because of his career decision; sources are unclear on whether they reconciled. They saw it as a rejection of everything they stood for, although Kristofferson says he is proud of his time in the military and received the Veteran of the Year Award at the 2003 American Veterans Awards ceremony.

1965–1972: early music and film career

After relocating to Nashville, Tennessee, Kristofferson contacted Marijohn Wilkin, the aunt of his former platoon commander, who signed Kristofferson to her publishing house Buckhorn Music. Wilkin pitched his song "Talkin' Vietnam Blues" to singer Dave Dudley. Concurrently, Kristofferson worked a series of odd jobs that included bartender, construction worker, and railroad worker. He 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.

After his second child was born with esophagus issues, Kristofferson worked at Petroleum Helicopters International (PHI) in Lafayette, Louisiana. While flying workers to and from oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, he would often write new songs. At weekends, he returned to Nashville, and for the following week he would pitch the songs around town before returning to Louisiana. The trips exhausted Kristofferson; his children were living with Fran in California and he felt his career as a songwriter was failing. PHI also admonished him for his increased alcohol consumption. Upon returning to Nashville the same week, Kristofferson learned three of his songs had been recorded: "Jody and the Kid" by Roy Drusky, "Help Me Make It Through the Night" by Jerry Lee Lewis and "Me and Bobby McGee" by Roger Miller.

Through June Carter, Kristofferson first attempted to pitch material to her husband Johnny Cash. Carter took the demos, which were eventually lost in a pile of other material Cash had received. At the time, Kristofferson worked on the weekends for the Tennessee National Guard. To attract Cash's attention, Kristofferson landed a helicopter in Cash's property. Cash eventually invited Kristofferson to a "guitar pull" party in his house. Cash was impressed and invited Kristofferson to perform with him at the 1969 Newport Folk Festival. Unsatisfied by Buckhorn Music, Kristofferson decided to change labels. Monument Records director Bob Beckham invited Kristofferson to play songs for him and label owner Fred Foster. Kristofferson performed "To Beat the Devil", "Jody and the Kid", "The Best of All Possible Worlds" and "Duvalier's Dream"; Foster was impressed and offered Kristofferson two contracts; one as a recording artist for Monument Records and one as a songwriter for Combine Music. The ten-year contract required Kristofferson to submit ten records containing songs he had written. Kristofferson was surprised he had been signed as a singer; he told Foster at the time: "I can't sing, I sound like a frog!" Kristofferson later said Buckhorn Music had not allowed him to record demos of his compositions.

In 1969, Kristofferson left Nashville to join the production of his first motion picture, Dennis Hopper's The Last Movie, in Peru. In his absence, Cash continued promoting Kristofferson's original songs with other singers. Upon returning to Nashville, Kristofferson learned of his new popularity and started to work on his debut album for Monument, Kristofferson. As his manager and producer, Foster had decided to keep some of Kristofferson's original material from being passed to other artists. The new material, as well as his songs that had already been recorded by other artists, were included in the recording sessions, which were held at Monument Recording Studio.

Kristofferson was released in June 1970.

1990–2021: Highwaymen and later years

The Cedar Creek Sessions, Kristofferson's last studio album issued during his lifetime, was released on June 17, 2016.

In August, Kristofferson's final film, Blaze, opened.

2021–2024: retirement and death

By January 2021, Kristofferson announced his retirement from performing, citing age and concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. According to manager Tamara Saviano, "It was an evolution, and it just felt very organic." Kristofferson's final performance was held in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Bowl on April 29, 2023, where he sang a cover of "Lovin' You Was Easier" with Rosanne Cash in honor of Willie Nelson's 90th birthday; the concert was later released as Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90 that December.

Kristofferson died at his Maui home on September 28, 2024; he was 88. He previously requested for the first three lines of Leonard Cohen's "Bird on the Wire" on his tombstone:

Like a bird on the wire
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free