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What a career and life. His father was a Swedish army veteran and a USAF Major General, Kris himself served in the Army and was a Golden Gloves boxer among a great number of other things. One thing that I found out about him earlier this month was that he was a Rhodes Scholar! THAT is quite an achievement.
He wrote such his as Help Me Make It Through The Night, Sunday Mornin' Coming Down, Me and Bobby McGee, and, of course, The Gambler. He recorded with many other musicians, and worked at Columbia Recording Studios - as a janitor - while continuing his army profession as a helicopter pilot (he left the service as a Captain after a few years in Germany). From the article, "in addition to working as a part-time helicopter pilot flying back and forth between offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. A story about how he once landed his helicopter in Johnny Cash’s yard to give the country star his demo tape would become country-music apocrypha."
That's pretty cool!
Early in his music career, he was most successful as a song writer, not as a recording artist. That success came much later in life. He also made over 50 films in his career. He finally retired in early 2021, suffering memory problems that he attributed to Lyme disease.
He passed away at his home in Hawaii.
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/kris-kristofferson-dead-1107074/
He wrote such his as Help Me Make It Through The Night, Sunday Mornin' Coming Down, Me and Bobby McGee, and, of course, The Gambler. He recorded with many other musicians, and worked at Columbia Recording Studios - as a janitor - while continuing his army profession as a helicopter pilot (he left the service as a Captain after a few years in Germany). From the article, "in addition to working as a part-time helicopter pilot flying back and forth between offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. A story about how he once landed his helicopter in Johnny Cash’s yard to give the country star his demo tape would become country-music apocrypha."
That's pretty cool!
Early in his music career, he was most successful as a song writer, not as a recording artist. That success came much later in life. He also made over 50 films in his career. He finally retired in early 2021, suffering memory problems that he attributed to Lyme disease.
He passed away at his home in Hawaii.
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/kris-kristofferson-dead-1107074/
