Kris Kristofferson death: Country music legend and Blade star dies, aged 88

Sign up to Roisin O’Connor’s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Get our Now Hear This email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “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,” Kristofferson’s family said in a statement shared with US outlets. Thank you for loving him all these many years, and when you see a rainbow, know he’s smiling down at us all.” Starting in the late 1960s, the Brownsville, Texas native wrote such classics standards as “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down”, “Help Me Make it Through the Night”, “For the Good Times” and “Me and Bobby McGee.” Kristofferson was a singer himself, but many of his songs were best known as performed by others, whether Ray Price crooning “For the Good Times” or Janis Joplin belting out “Me and Bobby McGee.” open image in gallery Kris Kristofferson, who starred in films including the Blade trilogy and Planet of the Apes, died at his home in Maui on Saturday, surrounded by his family With his long hair, bell-bottomed slacks and counterculture songs influenced by Bob Dylan, he represented a new breed of country songwriters along with such peers as Willie Nelson, John Prine and Tom T Hall. He was well respected within the industry, with Nelson himself declaring at an event in 2009: “There’s no better songwriter alive than Kris Kristofferson. Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 4 month free trial Sign up Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 4 month free trial Sign up In 2014 he was also awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for his longstanding contributions to the music industry.