“What a great loss”: The reaction to the news of Kris Kristofferson’s death is overwhelming

Kris Kristofferson, the acclaimed country singer, songwriter and actor who watched hundreds of artists record his songs, died Saturday at his home in Maui, Hawaii. He was 88.

Family spokeswoman Ebie McFarland announced Kristofferson’s death in an email, confirming that he died peacefully and surrounded by his family, according to The Associated Press. McFarland did not give a cause of death.

Kristofferson is originally from Brownsville, Texas. His career began in the late 1960s when he began writing country and rock and roll music. After giving up a career in the military, Kristofferson moved to Nashville, where he worked as a janitor at Columbia Records and watched Bob Dylan record his album “Blonde on Blonde,” The Hollywood Reporter reported.

Kristofferson’s first big hit was “For the Good Times” in 1970, followed later that year by “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” which Kristofferson’s mentor and friend, singer Johnny Cash, recorded. In a 2006 interview with The AP, Kristofferson spoke about the role Cash played in his own career. “Shaking his hand backstage at the Grand Ole Opry when I was still in the Army was the moment I decided to come back,” Kristofferson said. “It was electric. He kind of took me under his wing before he cut one of my songs. He recorded my first record, which was record of the year. He brought me on stage for the first time.”

Although Kristofferson sang himself, his greatest hits were sung by others, including Ray Price, who sang “For the Good Time,” Janis Joplin, who howled “Me and Bobby McGee,” and the Grateful Dead, Michael Bublé, Gladys Knight and the Pips and Al Green bring his music to life.

Kristofferson was well versed in poetry and often infused his country songs with lyrics that addressed themes of love and loneliness. “Imbued with a neo-Romantic sensibility as much indebted to John Keats as it was to the Beat Generation and Bob Dylan, Mr. Kristofferson’s work explored themes of freedom and obligation, alienation and desire, darkness and light,” said The’s Bill Friskics-Warren wrote the New York Times in an obituary published Monday. This sensitivity led Kristofferson to find company with singers such as Roger Miller and Willie Nelson. “We took it seriously enough to believe that what we were doing was important, to believe that what we were creating would mean something in the grand scheme of things,” Kristofferson said of the 2006 interview with No Depression magazine like-minded singer-songwriter “Looking back, it feels like it was our Paris of the 1920s,” he said. “Really creative and really exciting.”

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Kristofferson has been as prolific in his acting career as he has been in his ability to be a hit-generating songwriter. His first role was in Dennis Hopper’s “The Last Movie” in 1971, followed by a series of western films. One of Kristofferson’s most memorable roles was opposite Barbra Streisand in the 1976 musical drama A Star Is Born. Actor Bradley Cooper reprized the film in 2018, directing it and starring opposite Lady Gaga.

As news of Kristofferson’s death spread, some celebrities who knew him personally made statements honoring the multihyphenate’s memory. Streisand shared a series of Instagram posts on Sunday and Monday paying tribute to her “A Star Is Born” co-star.

“When I first saw Kris perform at the Troubadour club in LA, I knew he was special,” she wrote in a Sunday post. “Barefoot and strumming his guitar, he seemed like the perfect choice for a script I developed that eventually became ‘A Star Is Born.'” In the film, Kris and I sang the song I wrote for the film’s main theme had: “Evergreen”.

“For my final concert of 2019 in London’s Hyde Park, I asked Kris to come on stage with me to sing our other ‘A Star Is Born’ duet, ‘Lost Inside Of You,'” Streisand continued. “He was as charming as ever,” and the audience showered him with applause. It was a joy to see him receive the recognition and love he so richly deserved.

Country singer Dolly Parton also shared her own thoughts on Sunday and celebrated the life of her “amazing friend” on her Instagram.

“What a great loss, what a great writer, what a great actor, what a great friend,” she wrote, signing her message: “I will always love you.”

“What a gentleman, a kind soul and a lover of words,” singer and actor Reba McEntire wrote on X/Twitter. “I’m so happy to meet him and be around him. One of my favorite people. Rest in peace, Kris.”

Singer-songwriter LeAnn Rimes wrote on the platform that Kristofferson was “an epic human being with the biggest heart.” You will be missed so much. Be calm, my friend.