Kris Kristofferson, Country Singer and A Star Is Born Actor, Dead at 88

Kris Kristofferson, country music singer and A Star Is Born actor, has died. He was 88.

Kristofferson’s family announced his death on Instagram in a statement posted to the country icon’s official account. “We’re all so blessed for our time with him,” the family’s statement read. “Thank you for loving him all these many years, and when you see a rainbow, know he’s smiling down at us all.”

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No cause of death has been reported.

Kristofferson was a three-time Grammy-winning country music artist, taking home the trophy for Best Country Song (“Help Me Make It Through the Night”) in 1971, before grabbing gold with his then-wife Rita Coolidge for Best Country Vocal Performance By A Duo Or Group in 1973 and 1975. His songwriting credits included “For the Good Times” (Ray Price, 1970), “Sunday Morning Coming Down” (Johnny Cash, 1970), “Help Me Make It Through the Night” (Sammi Smith, 1971) and “Me and Bobby McGee” (Janis Joplin, 1971).

In addition to his prolific music career, Kristofferson memorably starred as John Norman Howard, a rock musician on the decline who falls in love with up-and-comer Esther Hoffman (played by Barbra Streisand), in the third version of A Star Is Born in 1976, which won him a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical).

“The first time I saw Kris performing at the Troubadour club in L.A. I knew he was something special,” Streisand wrote on Instagram on Sunday, paying tribute to her late co-star. “Barefoot and strumming his guitar, he seemed like the perfect choice for a script I was developing, which eventually became A Star Is Born.”

Streisand recalled her latest concert in 2019 at London’s Hyde Park: “I asked Kris to join me on-stage to sing our A Star Is Born duet, ‘Lost Inside Of You,'” she wrote. “He was as charming as ever, and the audience showered him with applause. It was a joy seeing him receive the recognition and love he so richly deserved.”

Kristofferson’s other film credits included Blade, Payback, He’s Just Not That Into You, Where the Red Fern Grows and Planet of the Apes.

On the TV side, Kristofferson narrated Showtime’s Western anthology Dead Man’s Gun, and appeared in Texas Rising, The Larry Sanders Show and Amerika.

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