US country music star Kris Kristofferson dies, aged 88

Tributes have been paid to Kris Kristofferson, the award-winning country singer and actor following his death at the age of 88.

Dolly Parton wrote: “What a great loss. What a great writer. What a great actor. What a great friend.”

She finished her post on social media with the words “I will always love you”, a nod to one of her most famous songs.

Barbra Streisand said she “knew he was something special” the first time she saw him perform.

Kristofferson and Streisand went on to share top billing in the 1976 remake of the film A Star Is Born.

In the film, they sang together on love theme Evergreen, which won an Oscar for best original song, and Kristofferson won a Golden Globe for his acting.

Streisand also asked him to appear on stage with her in London’s Hyde Park in 2019.

“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,” she wrote on Instagram.

Kristofferson was known for his songwriting, notably credited for Me and Bobby McGee, and Help Me Make It Through the Night, among others.

“He created a body of work that gave voice not only to his soul but to ours,” Country Music Hall of Fame chief executive Kyle Young said in a statement.

A representative for Kristofferson said he passed away “peacefully” at his home in Hawaii on Saturday, surrounded by family.

The statement described Kristofferson as “a peacenik, a revolutionary, an actor, a superstar, a sex symbol, and a family man.”

A message from his family said they were all “so blessed” for the time they had with him.

“Thank you for loving him all these many years, and when you see a rainbow, know he’s smiling down at us all,” said the message.

Adding her tribute, singer LeAnn Rimes posted a photo of the pair with the message: “An epic human with the biggest heart. You will be so, so missed. Rest easy, my friend.”

Melissa Etheridge added: “Loved this man, his talent, his mind and his beautiful heart.”

Reba McEntire wrote: “What a gentleman, kind soul, and a lover of words. I am so glad I got to meet him and be around him. One of my favorite people. Rest in peace, Kris.”

Born in Brownsville, Texas, on 22 June, 1936, Kristofferson became a leading figure in country music.

“When I got started, I was one of the people hoping to bring respect to country music,” he said, according to the family message.

“Some of the songs I had that got to be hits did that. I imagine that’s why somebody might vote me into a Hall of Fame. I know it’s not because of my golden throat.”

Kristofferson studied writing at Pomona College in California and later went to Oxford as a Rhodes scholar. He earned his masters from Oxford in 1960, then returned to the US and joined the army.

He was assigned by the military to teach literature, which he said “sounded like hell”.

In 1965 he visited Nashville, and within two weeks had resigned from his army post and moved to the country music hub to pursue his music career.

The head of the Country Hall of Fame and Museum said he left behind “a resounding legacy”.

“Kris Kristofferson believed creativity is God-given, and those who ignore such a gift are doomed to unhappiness,” Kyle Young wrote on X. “He preached that a life of the mind gives voice to the soul, and his work gave voice not only to his soul but to ours.”

He won three Grammys for best country song, Help Me Make It Through the Night in 1972, and two separate duets with Rita Coolidge (1974, 1976), to whom he was married in the 1970s.

Kristofferson debuted as an actor as John Norman Howard in A Star Is Born opposite Streisand’s Ester Hoffman.

His acting career saw him take on numerous roles, including in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Lone Star, and the Blade franchise.

He was nominated for an Oscar in 1985 for best original score for Songwriter, in which he co-starred with Willie Nelson.

The same year, Kristofferson and Nelson joined friends Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings to form a supergroup called The Highwaymen.

“Every time I look at a picture of Willie and me and John and Waylon, I find it amazing that they let the janitor in there,” he told journalist Mikal Gilmore, referring to his former job at CBS’s Nashville studio.

In 2003, Kristofferson received the Free Speech Award from the Americana Music Association.

A year later, he became a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

He also received multiple lifetime achievement honours, including from The Recording Academy, the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.

Kristofferson is survived by his wife Lisa, his eight children, and seven grandchildren.