User:Sjones23/Kris Kristofferson

Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American country music singer, 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", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night", all of which became hits for other artists.

Kristofferson was born in Brownsville, Texas; the family relocated to San Mateo, California during his childhood. After being briefly drafted into military service in the early 1960s, he began his music career in 1970 with the release of his debut album Kristofferson. In September 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 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.

Life and career

1936–1961: early years

Kristoffer Kristofferson was born in Brownsville, Texas, to Mary Ann (née Ashbrook) and Lars Henry Kristofferson, a United States Army Air Corps officer (later a major general in the United States Air Force). During Kristofferson'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. After graduating from San Mateo High School in 1954, he enrolled at Pomona College, hoping to become a writer. His early writing included prize-winning essays: "The Rock" and "Gone Are the Days" were published in The Atlantic Monthly. These stories touch on the roots of Kristofferson's passions and concerns. "The Rock" is about a geographical feature resembling the form of a woman, while the latter was about a racial incident.

At the age of 17, Kristofferson took a summer job with a dredging contractor on Wake Island in the western Pacific Ocean. He called it "the hardest job I ever had".

Kristofferson attended Pomona College and experienced his first national exposure in 1958, appearing in the March 31 issue of Sports Illustrated for his achievements in collegiate rugby union, American football, and track and field. He and his classmates revived the Claremont Colleges Rugby Club in 1958, and it remains a Southern California rugby institution. Kristofferson graduated in 1958 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, in literature. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa his junior year. In a 2004 interview with Pomona College Magazine, Kristofferson mentioned philosophy professor Frederick Sontag as an important influence in his life.

In 1973, Kristofferson received an honorary doctorate in fine arts from Pomona College during Alumni Weekend, accompanied by fellow performers Johnny Cash and Rita Coolidge. His award was presented to him by his aforementioned mentor, Professor Sontag.

In 1958, Kristofferson was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford, studying at Merton College. While at Oxford, he was awarded a Blue for boxing, played rugby for his college, and began writing songs. At Oxford, he became acquainted with fellow Rhodes scholar, art critic, and poet Michael Fried. With the help of his manager, Larry Parnes, Kristofferson recorded for Top Rank Records under the name Kris Carson. 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.

This early phase of his music career was unsuccessful. In 1960, Kristofferson graduated with a B.Phil. in English literature. In 1961, he married his longtime girlfriend, Frances "Fran" Mavia Beer.

1961–1965: military service

Kristofferson, under pressure from his family, joined the United States Army in 1961 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant, attaining the rank of captain. He became a helicopter pilot after receiving flight training at Fort Rucker, Alabama. He also completed Ranger School. During the early 1960s, he was stationed in West Germany as a member of the 8th Infantry Division. During this time, he resumed his music career and formed a band. In 1965, after his tour in West Germany ended, Kristofferson was given an assignment to teach English literature at West Point. Instead, he decided to leave the Army and pursue songwriting. His family disowned him because of his career decision; sources are unclear on whether they reconciled. They saw it as a rejection of everything they stood for, although Kristofferson says he is proud of his time in the military and received the Veteran of the Year Award at the 2003 American Veterans Awards ceremony.