Kris Kristofferson

Biography

Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American musician, songwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a more raw, introspective style. Some of his most famous songs include "Me and Bobby McGee" (1970), "For the Good Times" (1968), "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" (1969), and "Help Me Make It Through the Night×Help Me Make It Through the Night2000 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)" (1970), which were also recorded by and became hits for other artists.
Kristofferson was born in Brownsville, Texas. The family relocated to San Mateo, California, during his childhood. He enlisted in military service during the early 1960s. After one single for Epic Records, Kristofferson was signed by Monument Records in 1969. Throughout his career, he recorded a total of 10 albums for Monument, two albums for Mercury Records, one album each for Justice Records and Atlantic Records, and two albums each for New West Records and KK Records.
In 1971, Kristofferson made his film debut in The Last Movie and devoted much of the later decade to making Hollywood films. Some of his most famous films include his collaborations with director Sam Peckinpah on Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) and Convoy (1978), as well a minor role in Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974). Other roles of his include Cisco Pike (1972), A Star Is Born (1976), Heaven's Gate (1980) and the Blade film trilogy (1998–2004)
Kristofferson was also a member of the country music supergroup the Highwaymen between 1985 and 1995. He has charted 12 times on the American Billboard Hot Country Songs charts; his highest-peaking singles there are "Why Me" and "Highwayman", which reached number one in 1973 and 1985, respectively. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. He was a three-time Grammy Award winner, out of 13 total nominations. Kristofferson died in 2024 at the age of 88, three years after announcing his retirement.

1936–1965: Early life and military service

Kristoffer Kristofferson was born in Brownsville, Texas, the oldest of three children born to Mary Ann (née Ashbrook) and Henry Kristofferson, a United States Army Air Corps officer (later a major general in the United States Air Force). Henry later worked as a manager for Saudi Aramco after retiring from the Air Force. During Kristofferson×KristoffersonJune 1970 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracksA1Blame It on the Stones2:47A2To Beat the Devil4:43A3Me and Bobby McGee4:23A4The Best of All Possible Worlds3:01A5Help Me Make It Through the Night2:25A6The Law Is for Protection of the People2:40B1Casey’s Last Ride3:38B2Just the Other Side of Nowhere3:39B3Darby’s Castle3:19B4For the Good Times3:25B5Duvalier’s Dream2:58B6Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down4:35's childhood, his father encouraged him to pursue a military career.
Kristofferson moved around frequently as a youth because of his father's military service, and the family settled in San Mateo, California. He attended San Mateo High School, where he graduated in 1954. At age 17, Kristofferson took a summer job with a dredging contractor on Wake Island in the western Pacific Ocean.
Kristofferson went to Pomona College in Claremont, California, as a literature major. He studied under Frederick Sontag, whom he considers an important influence in his life. His early writing included prize-winning essays that were published in The Atlantic. During this time, Kristofferson worked in various construction jobs and as a firefighter. He appeared in the March 31, 1958, issue of Sports Illustrated for his achievements in collegiate rugby union, American football, and track and field. He and his classmates also revived the Claremont Colleges Rugby Club, and it remains a Southern California rugby institution. Kristofferson graduated in 1958, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, in English Literature. He was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa society his junior year.
Also in 1958, Kristofferson was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford in Oxford, England, studying at Merton College. While performing his own songs there, Kristofferson signed with Larry Parnes, best known for his work with Tommy Steele. Parnes was working to sell Kristofferson as "a Yank at Oxford" to the British public; Kristofferson was willing to accept that promotional approach if it helped his singing career, which he hoped would enable him to progress toward his goal of becoming a novelist.
In early 1959, Kristofferson signed a recording contract with Paul Lincoln's Top Rank label as "Kris Carson", but these recordings were unsuccessful. In 1960, Kristofferson graduated with a B.Phil. in English literature.
In 1961, he married his longtime girlfriend, Frances "Fran" Mavia Beer. Also in 1961, Kristofferson joined the United States Army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He attended U.S. Army Ranger School and completed helicopter pilot training at Fort Rucker, Alabama. He relocated Beer and their newborn daughter to West Germany, where he served as a member of the 8th Infantry Division. During this period, Kristofferson was promoted to the rank of captain and resumed his music career, forming a band to play at service clubs. It was at this point that he met Marijohn Wilkin, the aunt of his platoon commander. In 1965, after his tour in West Germany ended, Kristofferson was re-assigned to teach English literature at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York.

1965–1972: Early music and film career

In June 1965, while on a two-week leave from his assignments, Kristofferson contacted Wilkin in Nashville, Tennessee, and decided to become a country music songwriter. He resigned from the Army and relocated his family to Nashville that year, exacerbating his relationship with his parents. Wilkin signed Kristofferson to her publishing house Buckhorn Music and pitched his song "Talkin' Vietnam Blues" to singer Dave Dudley. Concurrently, Kristofferson held various jobs including as a bartender, a construction worker, and a railroad worker. He later worked as a janitor for Columbia Records, which afforded him the possibility of talking directly with the artists and a presence during recording sessions. He released his debut single containing his songs "Golden Idol×Golden Idol25 August 1967 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAGolden Idol2:22BKilling Time2:27" and "Killing Time" in 1967 on Epic Records.
After his second child was born with esophagus issues in 1968, Kristofferson worked at Petroleum Helicopters International (PHI) in Lafayette, Louisiana. While flying workers to and from oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, he would often write new songs. At weekends, he returned to Nashville, and for the following week he would pitch the songs around town before returning to Louisiana. The trips exhausted Kristofferson; his children were living with Fran in California and he felt his career as a songwriter was failing. PHI also admonished him for his increased alcohol consumption. Upon returning to Nashville the same week, Kristofferson learned three of his songs had been recorded: "Jody and the Kid" by Roy Drusky, "Help Me Make It Through the Night×Help Me Make It Through the Night2000 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)" by Jerry Lee Lewis and "Me and Bobby McGee" by Roger Miller.
Through June Carter, Kristofferson first attempted to pitch material to her husband Johnny Cash. Carter took the demos, which were eventually lost in a pile of other material Cash had received. At the time, Kristofferson worked on the weekends for the Tennessee National Guard. To attract Cash's attention, Kristofferson landed a helicopter on Cash's property. Cash eventually invited Kristofferson to a "guitar pull" party in his house. Cash was impressed and invited Kristofferson to perform with him at the 1969 Newport Folk Festival. Unsatisfied by Buckhorn Music, Kristofferson decided to change labels. Monument Records director Bob Beckham invited Kristofferson to play songs for him and label owner Fred Foster. Kristofferson performed "To Beat the Devil", "Jody and the Kid", "The Best of All Possible Worlds" and "Duvalier's Dream"; Foster was impressed and signed Kristofferson to Monument as a recording artist and Combine Music as a songwriter. The ten-year contract required Kristofferson to submit ten records containing songs he had written. Kristofferson was surprised he had been signed as a singer; he told Foster at the time: "I can't sing, I sound like a frog!" Kristofferson later said Buckhorn Music had not allowed him to record demos of his compositions.
In 1969, Kristofferson divorced Beer and left Nashville to join the production of his first motion picture, Dennis Hopper's The Last Movie, in Peru. In his absence, Cash continued promoting Kristofferson's original songs with other singers. Upon returning to Nashville, Kristofferson learned of his new popularity and started to work on his debut album for Monument, Kristofferson×KristoffersonJune 1970 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracksA1Blame It on the Stones2:47A2To Beat the Devil4:43A3Me and Bobby McGee4:23A4The Best of All Possible Worlds3:01A5Help Me Make It Through the Night2:25A6The Law Is for Protection of the People2:40B1Casey’s Last Ride3:38B2Just the Other Side of Nowhere3:39B3Darby’s Castle3:19B4For the Good Times3:25B5Duvalier’s Dream2:58B6Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down4:35. As his manager and producer, Foster had decided to keep some of Kristofferson's original material from being passed to other artists. The new material, as well as his songs that had already been recorded by other artists, were included in the recording sessions, which were held at Monument Recording Studio.
Monument released Kristofferson in June 1970. Kristofferson wrote or co-wrote every song on the album. He collaborated with Marijohn's son, John Buck Wilkin, on "Blame it on the Stones". Though Kristofferson was not a commercial success, it received positive reviews from critics. According to Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times, the album "is able to combine lyric sophistication with country music's traditional interest in everyday problems". The commercial success of "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" led to the first of several industry awards nominations for the singer. Johnny Cash's rendition of the single earned Kristofferson his first Country Music Association award for Song of the Year that November.
Also in 1970, he made his debut performance as a singer at the Los Angeles nightclub The Troubadour. Fred Roos, the casting director of Bob Rafelson's Five Easy Pieces, invited him to audition for his film debut for a leading role on Two-Lane Blacktop. Kristofferson, who was signed to Columbia Records, arrived to the appointment intoxicated and left. Kristofferson was next offered Bill L. Norton's script for Cisco Pike by Columbia. His peers encouraged him to reject the role and to take acting lessons instead, but he accepted the part, and later said; "I read the script and I could identify with this cat" and that acting is "understanding a character, and then being just as honest as you can possibly be".
Kristofferson began an 18-month tour, during which he suffered a bout of walking pneumonia, which was worsened by his alcohol consumption. While performing, he would not face the audience and mumbled the words to his songs. Eventually, he was hospitalized. During the tour, Kristofferson performed on The Johnny Cash Show. While in California, Kristofferson befriended singer Janis Joplin. Upon returning to Nashville in early 1971, he received with his mail at Combine Music Joplin's posthumous album Pearl, which at the time was still unreleased. Joplin's album included a cover of his original composition "Me and Bobby McGee". The following morning, he returned to the studio and recorded his second Monument album, The Silver Tongued Devil and I×The Silver Tongued Devil and IJuly 1971 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracksA1The Silver Tongued Devil and I4:13A2Jody and the Kid3:09A3Billy Dee2:53A4Good Christian Soldier3:18A5Breakdown (A long Way From Home)2:41B1Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again)3:35B2The Taker3:11B3When I Loved Her2:56B4The Pilgrim – Chapter 333:05B5Epitaph (Black and Blue)3:21, which was released that July. He wrote nine of the album's 10 songs, including the single "Lovin' Her Was Easier (than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)". He collaborated with songwriter Shel Silverstein on "The Taker" and keyboardist Donnie Fritts on "Epitaph (Black and Blue)". Also included on the album was a cover of Bobby Bare's "Good Christian Soldier". "Lovin' Her Was Easier (than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)" reached number 46 on Billboard Hot 100 and number 4 on Adult Contemporary. These songs would later be used on the soundtrack for Cisco Pike, which was released on January 14, 1972.

That February, Monument released his third album Border Lord×Border Lord1972 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracksA1Josie3:13A2Burden of Freedom3:22A3Stagger Mountain Tragedy2:54A4Border Lord3:39A5Somebody Nobody Knows3:37B1Little Girl Lost3:10B2Smokey Put the Sweat on Me3:10B3When She’s Wrong4:48B4Gettin’ by, High and Strange2:37B5Kiss the World Goodbye3:02. The album was all-new material and sales were sluggish. He also swept the Grammy Awards that year with numerous songs nominated, winning country song of the year for "Help Me Make It Through the Night". Kristofferson's fourth album, Jesus Was a Capricorn×Jesus Was a CapricornNovember 1972 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracksA1Jesus Was a Capricorn (Owed to John Prine)2:30A2Nobody Wins3:09A3It Sure Was (Love)2:54A4Sugar Man4:02A5Help Me3:25B1Jesse Younger2:43B2Give It Time to Be Tender3:29B3Out of Mind, Out of Sight3:01B4Enough for You3:08B5Why Me3:27, initially had slow sales, but the third single, "Why Me", was a success and significantly increased album sales. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA on November 8, 1973. Kristofferson appeared with Rita Coolidge on the BBC television series The Old Grey Whistle Test, performing "Help Me Make It Through the Night". Al Green later released his version of "For the Good Times" on the album I'm Still in Love with You.

1973–1985: Commercial peak

In April 1973, Kristofferson received an honorary doctorate in fine arts from Pomona College during Alumni Weekend, accompanied by Cash and Coolidge. Four months later, Kristofferson married Coolidge. The duo released an album titled Full Moon×Full MoonSeptember 1973 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracksA1Hard to Be Friends3:25A2It’s All Over (All Over Again)2:45A3I Never Had It So Good4:08A4From the Bottle to the Bottom4:06A5Take Time to Love2:55A6Tennessee Blues5:20B1Part of Your Life3:09B2I’m Down (but I Keep Falling)3:08B3I Heard the Bluebirds Sing2:48B4After the Fact5:05B5Loving Arms3:50B6A Song I’d Like to Sing4:00, another success buoyed by numerous hit singles and Grammy nominations.
His fifth album, Spooky Lady's Sideshow, released in 1974, was a commercial failure. Artists such as Ronnie Milsap, Willie Nelson and Johnny Duncan continued to record Kristofferson's material with success, but his rough vocal style and anti-pop sound kept his own audience to a minimum.
In March 1979, Kristofferson participated in the Havana Jam festival in Havana alongside several notable American and Cuban artists. His performance is captured on Ernesto Juan Castellanos's documentary Havana Jam '79. That November, Kristofferson and Coolidge appeared on The Muppet Show, where Kristofferson sang "Help Me Make It Through the Night×Help Me Make It Through the Night2000 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)" with Miss Piggy, Coolidge sang "We're All Alone" with forest animals, and the pair sang "Song I'd Like to Sing" with the Muppet monsters. They divorced in 1980.
In 1982, Kristofferson joined Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and Brenda Lee on The Winning Hand, a double album consisting of remastered and updated performances of recordings the four artists had made for the Monument label during the mid-1960s; the album reached the top ten on the U.S. country album charts. He married again, to Lisa Meyers, and concentrated on films for a time, appearing in the 1984 releases The Lost Honor of Kathryn Beck, Flashpoint, and Songwriter. Nelson and Kristofferson both appeared in Songwriter, and Kristofferson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score. The album Music from Songwriter×Music From Songwriter8 February 1984 · Album · SoundtrackSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracksA1How Do You Feel About Foolin' Around2:43A2Songwriter3:04A3Who'll Buy My Memories3:31A4Write Your Own Songs3:16A5Nobody Said It Was Going to Be Easy2:28A6Good Times3:37B1Eye of the Storm3:13B2Crossing the Border5:11B3Down to Her Socks2:51B4Under the Gun6:18B5The Final Attraction3:33, featuring Nelson-Kristofferson×KristoffersonJune 1970 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracksA1Blame It on the Stones2:47A2To Beat the Devil4:43A3Me and Bobby McGee4:23A4The Best of All Possible Worlds3:01A5Help Me Make It Through the Night2:25A6The Law Is for Protection of the People2:40B1Casey’s Last Ride3:38B2Just the Other Side of Nowhere3:39B3Darby’s Castle3:19B4For the Good Times3:25B5Duvalier’s Dream2:58B6Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down4:35 duets, was a country success.

Film

For the next several years, Kristofferson focused on acting. He appeared in Cisco Pike (1972) with Gene Hackman; Blume in Love (1973), directed by Paul Mazursky; three Sam Peckinpah films: Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973), Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974), and Convoy (1978); and Michael Ritchie's Semi-Tough (1977) with Burt Reynolds. He continued acting in Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), Vigilante Force (1976), The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea (1976), and the romantic drama A Star Is Born (1976) with Barbra Streisand, for which he received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. At the peak of his box office power, Kristofferson turned down William Friedkin's Sorcerer (1977) and the romantic war film Hanover Street (1979). Despite his success with Streisand, Kristofferson's solo musical career headed downward with his non-charting ninth album, Shake Hands with the Devil×Shake Hands With the DevilJuly 1979 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracksA1Shake Hands With the Devil3:27A2Prove It to You One More Time Again2:45A3Whiskey, Whiskey3:48A4Lucky in Love2:42A5Seadream3:03B1Killer Barracuda3:03B2Come Sundown3:40B3Michoacan3:00B4Once More With Feeling2:51B5Fallen Angel4:10. His next film, the two-part 1979 NBC-TV movie Freedom Road, did not get good ratings.
Kristofferson was next cast in the lead role as the enigmatic Sheriff James Averill in Michael Cimino's bleak and sprawling 1980 anti-Western Heaven's Gate. Despite being a scandalous studio-bankrupting and industry-changing failure at the time (it cost Kristofferson his Hollywood A-list status), the film gained critical recognition in subsequent years. In 1981, he co-starred with Jane Fonda in Rollover, directed by Alan J. Pakula. In 1986, he starred in The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James with Johnny Cash and Flashpoint with Treat Williams in 1984, directed by William Tannen. This was followed, in 1985, by the neo-noir thriller Trouble In Mind co-starring Keith Carradine and Lori Singer. In 1987, Kristofferson starred in the seven-episode TV series Amerika with Robert Urich and Christine Lahti. In 1989, he was the male lead in the film Millennium with Cheryl Ladd.

1985–2021: Highwaymen and later years

Nelson and Kristofferson continued their partnership, and by 1985, they added Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash to form the supergroup the Highwaymen. Their self-titled first album, released on May 6, was a success, and the supergroup continued working together for a time. The single from the album, a cover of Jimmy Webb's "Highwayman", was awarded the ACM's single of the year in 1985. In 1985, Kristofferson starred in Trouble in Mind and released Repossessed, a politically aware album that was a country success, particularly "They Killed Him" (also performed by Bob Dylan), a tribute to his heroes, including Martin Luther King Jr., Jesus, and Mahatma Gandhi. Kristofferson also appeared in Amerika at about the same time, a miniseries that attempted to depict life in America under Soviet control.

In spite of the success of Highwayman 2 in 1990, Kristofferson's solo recording career slipped significantly in the early 1990s, though he continued to record successfully with the Highwaymen. Lone Star (1996 film by John Sayles) reinvigorated Kristofferson's acting career, and he soon appeared in Blade, Blade II, Blade: Trinity, A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries, Fire Down Below, Tim Burton's remake of Planet of the Apes, Chelsea Walls, Payback, The Jacket, and Fast Food Nation.
The Songwriters Hall of Fame inducted Kristofferson in 1985, as had the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame earlier, in 1977. In 1999, The Austin Sessions was released, an album on which Kristofferson×KristoffersonJune 1970 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracksA1Blame It on the Stones2:47A2To Beat the Devil4:43A3Me and Bobby McGee4:23A4The Best of All Possible Worlds3:01A5Help Me Make It Through the Night2:25A6The Law Is for Protection of the People2:40B1Casey’s Last Ride3:38B2Just the Other Side of Nowhere3:39B3Darby’s Castle3:19B4For the Good Times3:25B5Duvalier’s Dream2:58B6Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down4:35 reworked some of his favorite songs with the help of artists such as Mark Knopfler, Steve Earle, and Jackson Browne. He underwent coronary artery bypass surgery shortly after the album's release.
In 1997, Kristofferson co-starred in the film Fire Down Below with Steven Seagal. Kristofferson appeared in the Stephen Norrington film Blade, alongside Wesley Snipes, as Blade's mentor Abraham Whistler. He reprised the role in Blade II (2002) and again in Blade: Trinity (2004). In 1998 he starred in Dance with Me along with Vanessa Williams and Chayanne.
In 2003, Broken Freedom Song was released, a live album recorded in San Francisco. That year, he received the "Spirit of Americana" free speech award from the Americana Music Association. In 2004, he began experiencing memory problems which lasted for the next 11 years. That November, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
On October 21, 2005, the film Dreamer was released, in which Kristofferson played the role of "Pop", a retired thoroughbred horse trainer. The film was inspired by the true story of the mare Mariah's Storm which won the Turfway Breeders Cup Classic. In 2006, he received the Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame and released his first album full of new material in 11 years; This Old Road×This Old Road7 March 2006 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1This Old Road3:592Pilgrim’s Progress2:143Love Is the Last Thing to Go3:004Wild American2:275In the News3:316The Burden of Freedom3:267Chase the Feeling4:068Holy Creation4:389The Show Goes On3:2010Thank You for a Life3:4411Final Attraction2:57. Also in 2006, Kristofferson starred with Geneviève Bujold in the film Disappearances about whiskey running from Quebec to the U.S. during the Great Depression.
On April 21, 2007, Kristofferson won CMT's Johnny Cash Visionary Award. Rosanne Cash, Cash's daughter, presented the honor during the April 16 awards show in Nashville. Previous recipients include Cash, Hank Williams Jr., Loretta Lynn, Reba McEntire, and the Dixie Chicks. "John was my hero before he was my friend, and anything with his name on it is really an honor in my eyes," Kristofferson said during a phone interview. "I was thinking back to when I first met him, and if I ever thought that I'd be getting an award with his name on it, it would have carried me through a lot of hard times."
Kristofferson's next studio album, titled Closer to the Bone×Closer to the Bone28 September 2009 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 20 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11Closer to the Bone2:332From Here to Forever3:333Holy Woman2:314Starlight and Stone3:475Sister Sinead2:226Hall of Angels4:007Love Don’t Live Here Anymore2:028Good Morning John2:529Tell Me One More Time2:4010Let the Walls Come Down2:4211The Wonder3:1012[untitled]1:26Disc 21This Old Road3:582The Final Attraction2:093Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down5:284The Silver Tongued Devil and I2:265For the Good Times4:416A Moment of Forever2:377Don’t Let the Bastards (Get You Down)2:498Why Me?3:30, was released in September 2009. It is produced by Don Was on the New West Records label. Before the release, Kristofferson remarked: "I like the intimacy of the new album. It has a general mood of reflecting on where we all are at this time of life." That November, Kristofferson was honored as a BMI Icon at the 57th annual BMI Country Awards. Throughout his career, Kristofferson's songwriting garnered 48 BMI Country and Pop Awards. He later remarked, "The great thing about being a songwriter is you can hear your baby interpreted by so many people that have creative talents vocally that I don't have." Kristofferson had always denied having a good voice, and had said that as he had aged, any quality it once had was beginning to decay.

In May 2010, Light in the Attic Records released demos that were recorded during Kristofferson's janitorial stint at Columbia. Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends: The Publishing Demos was the first time these recordings were released and included material that would later be featured on other Kristofferson recordings and on the recordings of other prominent artists, such as the original recording of "Me and Bobby McGee". Also in 2010, Kristofferson voiced the character Chief Hanlon of the NCR Rangers in the video game Fallout: New Vegas.
In early 2013, Kristofferson released an album of original songs called Feeling Mortal×Feeling Mortal22 January 2013 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Feeling Mortal3:162Mama Stewart3:223Bread for the Body2:584You Don't Tell Me What to Do3:355Stairway to the Bottom3:366Just Suppose3:247Castaway2:238My Heart Was the Last One to Know2:419The One You Chose2:2410Ramblin' Jack3:45. Thom Jurek of AllMusic called album "as honest a title as exists". He also praised the album's title track and "Ramblin' Jack". That June, Kristofferson portrayed Joe on the album Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, a collaboration between rock singer John Mellencamp and novelist Stephen King. In September, Kristofferson recorded an acoustic concert at Union Chapel, Islington, to be released the following year as An Evening with Kris Kristofferson: The Pilgrim; Ch 77.
In 2014, Kristofferson engaged in a series of recording sessions at Cedar Creek Recording in Austin, Texas, which led to his final studio album, The Cedar Creek Sessions×The Cedar Creek Sessions17 June 2016 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 25 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11Duvalier’s Dream2:482The Loving Gift1:583The Sabre and the Rose4:184The Law Is for the Protection of the People2:285It No Longer Matters What I Do2:316Stagger Mountain Tragedy2:527The Wife You Save2:318Lay Me Down and Love the World Away3:369The Bigger the Fool (the Harder the Fall)3:0810Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down4:0511Spooky Lady’s Revenge3:3612Forever in Your Love2:4213Winter2:37Disc 21Darby’s Castle3:222Me and Bobby McGee3:353Broken Freedom Song4:334Casey’s Last Ride3:275Billy Dee2:466Easter Island3:177For the Good Times3:398Help Me Make It Through the Night1:559Jody and the Kid2:5610Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again)3:0311Risky Business2:3012To Beat the Devil4:44. Released in June 2016, the album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Americana Album that December. Jeff Lincoln, in his review for the album on Country Standard Time, praised Kristofferson's humor and called the album "a songwriter's showcase".

Kristofferson covered Brandi Carlile's "Turpentine" on the 2017 album Cover Stories.
In August 2018, Kristofferson's final film, Blaze, was released. That November, Kristofferson performed, with assistance from Carlile, a cover of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You", from the 1971 Mitchell album Blue, at the Both Sides Now – Joni 75 A Birthday Celebration to celebrate Mitchell's 75th birthday.
Kristofferson was one of the supporting artists for a Barbra Streisand "exclusive European concert" on July 7, 2019 in Hyde Park, London as part of the British Summer Time concert series.

2021–2024: Retirement

By January 2021, Kristofferson announced his retirement from performing, citing age and concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Kristofferson×KristoffersonJune 1970 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracksA1Blame It on the Stones2:47A2To Beat the Devil4:43A3Me and Bobby McGee4:23A4The Best of All Possible Worlds3:01A5Help Me Make It Through the Night2:25A6The Law Is for Protection of the People2:40B1Casey’s Last Ride3:38B2Just the Other Side of Nowhere3:39B3Darby’s Castle3:19B4For the Good Times3:25B5Duvalier’s Dream2:58B6Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down4:35's final performance was held in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Bowl on April 29, 2023, where he sang a cover of "Lovin' You Was Easier" with Rosanne Cash in honor of Willie Nelson's 90th birthday; the concert was later released as Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90 that December.

Personal life

In 1961, Kristofferson married his longtime girlfriend Frances "Fran" Mavia Beer, but they divorced in 1969. Kristofferson briefly dated Janis Joplin before her death in October 1970. His second marriage was to singer Rita Coolidge in 1973, ending in divorce in 1980. Kristofferson married Lisa Meyers in 1983.
Kristofferson and Meyers owned a home in Las Flores Canyon in Malibu, California, and they also resided in Hana, Hawaii from 1990 until his death. Kristofferson had eight children from his three marriages: two from his first marriage, one from his second marriage, and five from his third marriage.
Kristofferson also had relationships outside of his marriages and fully embraced the "drugs, rocknroll life-style, leaving different sets of women to raise all eight of his kids."

Political views and advocacy

Kristofferson was a vocal opponent of the Gulf War and Iraq War and a critic of a number of United States military interventions and foreign policy positions, including the United States invasion of Panama and U.S. support of the Contras during the Nicaraguan Revolution and of the Apartheid government in South Africa.
Kristofferson endorsed Jesse Jackson's presidential campaign in 1988 and Ross Perot's presidential campaign in 1992.
Kristofferson's debut studio album included a pro–Vietnam War song, but he said that he later became an opponent of the war after speaking with returning soldiers who had seen combat. Speaking about a soldier who had told him that he had witnessed other soldiers throwing people out of helicopters during interrogation, Kristofferson said, "The notion that you could make a young person do something so inhumane to another soldier—or even worse, a civilian—convinced me that we were in the wrong." Kristofferson called himself a "dove with claws" and remained proud of his military service in spite of his anti-war views.
In a 1991 interview on New Zealand TV, he condemned media support for the Gulf War, saying "The lapdog media cranks out propaganda that would make a Nazi blush." Kristofferson was a supporter of the United Farm Workers and appeared at several rallies and benefits for them, campaigning with Cesar Chavez for the passage of Proposition 14. He continued to play at benefits for the UFW through the 2010s. In 1987, he played at a benefit concert for Leonard Peltier with Jackson Browne, Willie Nelson and Joni Mitchell. In 1995, he dedicated a song to Mumia Abu-Jamal at a concert in Philadelphia, and was booed by the crowd.
He performed in benefit concerts for Palestinian children, and said that he "found a considerable lack of work as a result." At a Bob Dylan anniversary concert shortly after Sinéad O'Connor's protest on Saturday Night Live in 1992, he showed solidarity with her when she was booed by the crowd.

Death

Kristofferson died in his Hana, Hawaii, home on September 28, 2024, at the age of 88. His family did not provide a cause of death. He had requested for the first three lines of Leonard Cohen's "Bird on the Wire" on his tombstone:

Like a bird on the wire
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free

Family and associates, including Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire and Miranda Lambert, paid tribute to Kristofferson on social media, while media outlets also published tributes written by singers Willie Nelson and Ashley McBryde. Many other musicians, artists, and celebrities offered public acknowledgements.

Grammy Awards

Kristofferson has won three competitive Grammys from thirteen nominations. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.