LOS ANGELES, United States, Sept 30, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - US singer-songwriter

Kris Kristofferson, a country music legend who notably hit the silver screen
opposite Barbra Streisand in "A Star is Born," has died at the age of 88, his
family announced Sunday.

No cause of death was given in a statement issued by the family of the
artist, a Country Music Hall of Fame honoree and Grammy winner known for
writing hits like "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" and "Me and Bobby McGee."

Kristofferson performed solo for decades but also formed the supergroup The
Highwaymen in the mid-1980s with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie
Nelson.

In film, the Golden Globe winner was also known for his appearances as
Whistler alongside Wesley Snipes in the vampire trilogy "Blade."

"It is with a heavy heart that we share the news our
husband/father/grandfather, Kris Kristofferson, passed away peacefully on
Saturday, September 28, at home" In Hawaii, the family said in a statement
carried on his official Facebook page.

"We're all so blessed for our time 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."

- Singing and acting -

Born on June 22, 1936, in Brownsville, Texas, Kristofferson moved frequently
as a child because his father was in the US military. He attended Pomona
College in California and went to Oxford as a Rhodes scholar, according to
his official website.

He joined the army, but was still pursuing his interest in music and
songwriting. He was offered a teaching job at West Point but decided instead
to head to Nashville, where he began to submit songs for others to record.

He finally signed his own record deal and put out a first album in 1970. He
would earn success both with his own voice and by providing tunes for other
hitmakers.

Cash took "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" to the top of the charts, and Ray
Price did the same with "For the Good Times."

"Me and Bobby McGee" became a posthumous hit for Janis Joplin, who once dated
Kristofferson.

"You can look at Nashville pre-Kris and post-Kris, because he changed
everything," Bob Dylan is quoted on Kristofferson's website as saying.

Kristofferson sang in a raspy voice about loneliness, hard times and romance.
One of his heroes was English poet William Blake.

Kristofferson would go on to pivot to acting, where his good looks led to
work with directors Sam Peckinpah and Martin Scorsese.

Then came the massive success of "A Star is Born" (1976), in which he played
a washed-up rock singer who discovers a new talent (Streisand).

He won the Golden Globe for best actor for the film, a remake of a 1937 movie
that was again redone in the 1950s with Judy Garland, and later in 2018 with
Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga.

Kristofferson's acting career hit a snag when he starred in the notorious
flop "Heaven's Gate" in 1980, and he struggled with drugs and alcohol, but he
went on to take dozens of other TV and film roles.

As a solo artist, his album output tapered off after the 1980s. The
Highwaymen recorded three popular albums over a decade, and he collaborated
often with Nelson in the years that followed.

Kristofferson toured often until the Covid-19 pandemic, though he suffered
from memory loss and announced in early 2021 that he had retired from music.

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

Kristofferson is survived by his third wife Lisa and his eight children.